One of the funniest movies of 1997, Vegas Vacation lives up to the high level of comic relief expected from this ongoing National Lampoon series. Though on the low end of hilarity compared to Holidays, European Holidays, and Christmas Holidays, the film is nonetheless a nonstop, laugh-out-loud comedy in its own right. After all, how can we expect anything to live up to the genius of a perfect comedy like Christmas Vacation? Complete with a new set of kids, Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo once again form an on-screen comedy duo that is simply magical…
When Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) receives a big bonus as a reward from the company for inventing a new food preservative, he and his wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) decide the money is better spent on a good old-fashioned family vacation. . But when kids Rusty (Ethan Embry) and Audrey (Marisol Nichols) bicker about destiny, the only place that gets unanimous reviews from the family is the Las Vegas vacation.
Flying to Las Vegas, the family experiences a series of obstacles that threaten to tear them apart forever. Clark becomes a gambling addict (including rock-paper-scissors gambling and a guy who does an “I’m thinking of a number between one and ten” routine at a low-rent casino), Ellen becomes the target. of the seduction of Wayne Newton. Underage Rusty becomes a gambling superstar under the assumed identity of Nicholas Pappagiorgio, and Audrey tries her luck at an exotic dance after a date with her stripper cousin Vicki…Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) makes another show-stealing performance as the redneck, dumber-than-a-relative-than-a-doorknob, and he follows Clark around the casinos lapping up his drink of choice – a thirty-ounce can of Busch Light.
The funniest scenes in the movie involve Eddie (as always) and his trailer-trash family, now living in a trailer on a plot of land Eddie bought cheap because it’s a nuclear waste graveyard. And Rusty’s various exploits under the Nic Pappaggiogio alias are hilarious in the extreme. Gathering with a group of quasi-mobsters, professional gamers, Rusty enjoys the massages, courtesy suites, and various luxuries associated with the biggest names in the business. Vegas Vacation is just plain fun. If you liked the previous movies, don’t miss this…
Continuing the stellar reputation of the Vacation film series, Vegas Vacation is sheer fun from start to finish. Chevy Chase is up to his usual antics, and Wayne Newton gives a classic performance as Griswold’s homewrecker. Suitable for the whole family, Vegas Vacation is a comedy made for both parents and children. And its role as another show in Griswold’s long list of comedies makes Vegas Vacation a definite must-see…