VEGAS VACATION (1997) A film review by Nick Schaden Copyright 1997 Nick Schaden
Midway through "Vegas Vacation", Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) looks out his car window and sees Christie Brinkley in a red Ferrari. This is an obvious nod toward an near identical scene in the now famous comedy "National Lampoon's Vacation", which started the entire Vacation movie series. A small tear nearly formed in my eye, remembering how funny Chevy Chase and "Vacation" was, and how far downhill both the actor and the series have become. While in my opinion "Vacation" was one of the funniest movies of the 20th century, "Vegas Vacation" is only mediocre, and the series is showing its age.
"Vegas Vacation" is the story of Clark Griswold, his wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), and their son Rusty (Ethan Randall) and daughter Audrey (Marisol Nichols). It's vacation time once again for the Griswolds, and this time their destination is Las Vegas. As expected, the vacation is a humorous disaster.
One on hand, like the other movies in the "Vacation" series, it succeeds in several key points. First, the movie successfully satirizes much of the real problems for Vegas travelers, from gambling traps to cheesy entertainment and nightlife. In addition, while Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo stumble through a few portions of the movie, for the most part they fill their respective roles as Clark and Ellen well. Finally, the Griswolds' cousin, Eddie (Randy Quaid) always results in a few laughs, keeping the movie on its two feet.
However, what "Vegas Vacation" falls short in (which frankly should be a strong point of any good comedy) is the humor. Put bluntly, "Vegas Vacation" isn't incredibly funny, with mostly only chuckles coming from my mouth while watching it. This occurs mainly because of the one prevalent joke throughout the movie: Clark's gambling problems. While watching Clark lose big time on the blackjack table is moderately humorous the first time, seeing it again and again with little variations in style or substance just plain isn't.
In the end, "Vegas Vacation" has a few high points, but for the most part is only a blatantly average movie. While there are several comedies that are quite worse than "Vegas Vacation", there are many that prove to be much better - I'd suggest seeking those out before watching this movie.
Nick's Rating: 0
*** Movies rated from -4 (worst) to +4 (best), 0 = average movie ***
-- Nick Schaden Send your comments to: cpunut@uslink.net Check out all of Nick's reviews at: http://uslink.net/~cpunut/movies.html
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