Fresh
National Lampoon's Vacation is an enjoyable trip through familiar comedy landscapes.
Variety Staff, Variety
National Lampoon's Vacation
Every summer Chevy Chase takes his family on a little trip. This year he went too far.
1983 · 1h 39m · R
Adventure, Comedy
Directed by
Harold Ramis
Overview
Clark Griswold is on a quest to take his family to the Walley World theme park for a vacation, but things don't go exactly as planned.
Director and cast
- Harold Ramis Director
- Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold
- Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold
- Imogene Coca as Aunt Edna
- Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie
- Anthony Michael Hall as Rusty Griswold
- Miriam Flynn as Cousin Catherine
- John Candy as Lasky, Guard at Walleyworld
- Dana Barron as Audrey Griswold
- Eddie Bracken as Roy Walley
- Brian Doyle-Murray as Kamp Komfort Clerk
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
93%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Despite plenty of gross-out gags and dumb slapstick bits, the careful viewer can occasionally detect some acrid and original satire in this 1983 film.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Rotten
The result is not so much a comedy about American values as a 2,500 mile skid on a banana skin. The visual gags come thick and fast, and are about as subtly signposted as the exit markers on a freeway.
Richard Rayner, Time Out
Fresh
The result is a confident humor and throwaway style that helps sustain the laughs -- of which there are quite a few.
Janet Maslin, New York Times
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