Vegas Vacation

What happens in Vegas ... well does not quite stay there. Multiple puns intended. If you are going on a vacation with the Griswolds, anything can happen. Like Randy Quaid popping in for some unknown reason - apart from the script and probably the audience demanding it. The beloved and hated cousin is back again.

And this time it seems like father Griswold does everything he can to ruin or rather bankrupt the whole familly. Will he succeed? A fair question one might have. The whole thing is quite insane and while you do not have to have seen any other vacation movie you can see that none of the member changes ... well physically/casting wise the son and daughter combo do change. You get new ones playing them in every movie. But mindset wise ... well they stay the same - same goes for Mom and Dad - but they are being played by the same people.

If you did like the other movies, you will have fun with this too - some interesting cameos included (not sure why currently the pics used for Sigfried and Roy are ... anything but good looking ... anyway).

"Vegas Vacation" makes no pretenses to be a good, hearty, intelligent piece of cinema: it features many critical, inexcusable flaws, such as: trafficking in mindless frivolity, some occasionally cheesy dialogue, and even wavers constantly from scene to scene without any means of resolution or connection. Yet, if you can ignore its many irksome qualities, the latest outing with the Griswalds is simply an outrageous, hilarious, and pleasurable romp of a movie. If you laugh at something senseless and absurd, such as Cousing Eddie babbling on about his worthless, pathetic existence, or Clark Griswald finding himself at the edge of the Hoover Dam, or even a busload of tourists crashing into the estate of "Mr. Las Vegas", Wayne Newton, so what? Where logic and reasoning are scarce behind the odds of the scenarios the Griswalds encounter, laughs are aplenty to make this one gleeful, jovial outing full of some really effective comedy. The idea of the dysfunctional Griswalds venturing to Vegas for yet another "family vacation" and finding themselves experiencing the whims of the city of entertainment in their own individual ways, with Clark being a hapless, compulsive gambler, Ellen having somewhat of an affair with Wayne Newton, Rusty hitting it rich at the casinos and masquerading as a "playboy", and Audrey aspiring to be an exotic dancer, how hilarious can it get? Couple this with the outrageous imbecilic likes of Cousin Eddie continuing to plague Clark's existence, and "Vegas Vacation" succeeds in delivering a royal flush of laughs. If it's silly and inane, if scenarios are too illogical for words, and if not everything really comes together by the end, at least you have plenty of funny material to laugh away at, and that makes for a jolly good outing, when you find yourself laughing consistently throughout the film, which warrants a solid recommendation for "Vegas Vacation". Hilarious! *** out of ****

Well, Clark Griswold has so far botched a road trip, a European vacation and (most memorably) a Christmas vacation; so why does he continue to make his family go through hell on his endless quest for a fun vacation? That's easy; it's pretty enjoyable for us to watch :)

"Vegas Vacation" sits comfortably as the third most enjoyable film in the series; surpassing "European Vacation" but not as enjoyable as "Vacation" or "Christmas Vacation". It's pretty far reaching at times but there are solid moments here; such as Clark damn near destroying a damn and getting crazy (as only Clark Griswold can) playing cards and losing everything.

The Wayne Newton gag soon grows tiresome and everything concerning Audrey and Russ pretty much stinks but Randy Quaid delivers once again as obnoxious Cousin Eddie and Chase hasn't lost his touch as the world's most annoying (yet somehow oddly endearing) family dad.

I've read many comments about the Vacation movies. Most people give the original "Vacation" high marks, but trash the others. I think a lot of people just like to be pick on Chevy Chase. "Vacation" is the best, but I liked the sequels and "Vegas Vacation" is my favorite of them. My kids just love to watch "Vegas Vacation". You can't pop in the DVD expecting to watch a movie that will be thought provoking or life altering. It was made to make people laugh and it accomplishes that very well. Chevy Chase and cast are very funny in this movie. The Wayne Newton bit was great. I love going to Vegas, and I love this movie. When my wife and I fly to Vegas, we always kid about going to the bathroom to join "the club" like Clark and Ellen. Numerous other things remind us of the movie when we are in Vegas, and it has made those trips even more enjoyable. Just wish Chevy would do another "Vacation" movie.

`Vegas Vacation' - 1997 - 3.5/5 stars

In 1989, audiences were introduced to `Christmas Vacation,' which turned out to be more than a pleasant surprise. Then, in 1997, almost a decade later, another `Vacation' film churned out. The fourth in the series.

`Vegas Vacation.'

Clark Griswold has finally gotten his break. His food preservatives have been approved, and he has gotten a bonus. Now, what to do with the money? He has an idea. Take the wife and kids to.(big surprise) Vegas! But soon after the ordeal of arriving in Vegas is over, Clark finds himself wasting away his money gambling; especially playing craps! Now, with the help of Uncle> Eddie, he must regain his money, and regain his wife from the grasp of Wayne Newton!

Chevy Chase returns to the role of Clark Griswold, he gets these crazy notions and perfect ideas built up in his head, and as we have learned in the other films, they always disintegrate one at a time until he blows his top.

Beverly D'Angelo returns to the character of Ellen Griswold, she pulls off the housewife/mother role quite believably; she is not nearly as bad as anyone would expect. Many people say she was in the first movie just to flash the screen a few times, but that's just from the mouths of people who dislike the movies; I think her role is important, and D'Angelo carries it well. The only other person I can think of that fits the Ellen character is Goldie Hawn, but that's probably because she acts a bit like D'Angelo so it is easier to imagine her as Ellen.

The kids in this `Vacation' film are (finally!) older; Rusty is on the verge of manhood, and Audrey has matured as well. The things they get themselves into during the film are quite funny. Audrey becomes a Vegas dancer, and Rusty becomes a rich tycoon with the help from some `friends.' We splice back and forth to their predicaments during the film.

One hilarious segment includes a bit where the Griswold family visits Uncle Eddie (a returning Randy Quaid) out in the middle of nowhere; he says that he got his land for free from the government because it used to be a nuclear test site (`I got tomatoes growing this big!'). Uncle Eddie is more disgusting than ever; he lives in a small trailer with about forty-something kids, all of which have strange deformations.

In `Vegas Vacation,' Randy Quaid has the longest screen time that Eddie's ever had before, and I think this is a good thing. Perhaps some people thought it went a bit over the top with Eddie, but I say, `The more Eddie, the better!'

Wallace Shawn makes a rather long cameo as the craps dealer; Clark has a vengeance built up against Shawn's character. He MUST beat him. However, Clark always loses and that is how he loses all his money.

Wayne Newton takes a rather big role as well. He pretends to be in love with Ellen Griswold (`It's a lock of my hair.') in the film; he tries to steal her from Clark, who forgets to pay attention to his wife while he blows his money away like it's just paper and nothing more.

John Hughes, writer of `Vacation' and `Christmas Vacation,' did NOT return to the keyboard for this one; someone else wrote it. I think, however, that the writer of `Vegas Vacation' wrote the script well; the jokes are plentiful and enjoyable. It's nowhere near as bad as some comedy sequels get (i.e. `Police Academy' sequels).

Many people really hated `Vegas Vacation,' saying that is was just not funny. But no one can tell me they didn't laugh - or even chuckle - at this film. I understand that it is not as good as the first film, but to tell you the truth, I used to have a hard time choosing a favorite - the three films (`Vegas,' `Christmas,' and the original - NOT counting the `European' sequel) are so different and funny that it really is hard to choose. However, `Vegas' is more familiar to the first film than the sequel(s), and it's a bit easier to compare. When I look closely at them, I decide (a) the first film was a first, and no one had ever experienced Clark Griswold before; (b) the jokes are a bit better and (c) the cast was a bit younger back then and could go for more physical gags. In the new film, Clark swings over the Hoover Dam, and it looks like Chevy really strained himself doing some of the physical stuff (even if it means dangling over a green screen).

All in all, I feel that `Vegas Vacation' is a very underrated comedy. I really, really enjoyed it, and had a fun time watching it. It's always nice to take another visit to the Griswold family, and I'm up for another sequel (perhaps John Hughes should write the next one?).

3.5/5 stars -