Warner Bros. Pictures, Hughes Entertainment
Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, John Randolph, Diane Ladd, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, Randy Quaid, Miriam Flynn, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cody Burger, Ellen Hamilton Latzen, William Hickey, Mae Questel, Sam McMurray, Nicholas Guest, Nicolette Scorsese, Brian Doyle-Murray, Natalia Nogulich
The Griswolds are back. Clark (Chevy Chase) has decided he wants to spend a wonderful Christmas at home this year, and both his parents and Ellen’s (Beverly D’Angelo) parents have decided to come over. Even Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his whole family have shown up unannounced. But from the very start everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. With a few blow-ups and a couple felonies, they make their way slowly through a Christmas that could kill them or put them all in jail.
This is one of those ultimate Christmas movies. Is it really possible that it was made in 1989? That’s amazing. This is a film that is replayed year after year after year, and is still great fun to watch. I decided to watch it again this year to bring some cheer to myself, and to include it in my Christmas on TV Project since I didn’t get it last year.
I love everything about this movie. The characters are so wonderfully developed from the previous films (despite the kids changing faces). Therefore they get to develop new characters like the wonderful neighbors (Nicholas Guest and Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who have the pleasure to live next door to Clark’s kin. Brian Doyle Murray who plays Clark’s cheapskate boss, Frank Shirley. That along with all the inlaws and cousins makes a delightful couple hours. There as so many classic jokes and gags in this film that Clark’s followers in Facebook have been doing quotes from this film all through November and December. This is probably the best of the Griswold movies, although it’s hard to top Wally World for fun too. But this one has all the best gags in it, and some classic lines that will last forever. There’s no real weak point in this film (although the super fast disk trip down the mountain could have been cut I guess. I have no idea in the world why they had Eddie say “Bingo” at the end of this overdone trip down the hill.)
If there’s anyone left on the planet who has not seen this film, see it immediately. And if you’ve seen it before, watch it again! I know I’ve seen this 10 or 12 times over the years, maybe more, and I still enjoy every minute.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
