The Plot... The Griswolds just want to have a nice Christmas, but family comes over. All of the family, the good and the bad. Hilarity ensues.
Why its in the Dave100... The. Funniest. Christmas. Movie. Ever. First, I have to say I was torn with this, versus A Christmas Story, versus Scrooged, three holiday flicks I love, albeit for different reasons. However, one of the previous ranks higher, one doesn't rank at all, and Christmas Vacation is at #84.
This movie works in so many ways... Chevy Chase is at his finest as Clark Griswold, the accident prone dad who just wants a nice Christmas, and Beverly D'Angelo finds it somehow to look decent. The kids (Johnny Galecki, of Roseanne fame, and a young Juliette Lewis) are great, but truly, the stars of the show are character actor William Hickey and of course, Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid). There's also a pretty hysterical cameo/bit part from pre-Seinfeld Julia-Louis Dreyfus
Perhaps one of the funniest scenes ever, in any movie, is watching Cousin Eddie come out in the white long sleeve shirt, with the black mock-neck dickie underneath--you can see the outline of the dickie under the white shirt... just that sight is hysterical, but then add to it Clark, staring at Cousin Eddie, saying, "Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?", and have Cousin Eddie respond, "Naw, thanks Clark, I'm doing just fine."
And its hard just doing the one-liners, because you really have to do the responses too... "Clark, I think it'd be best if everyone went home... before things get worse", followed up with, "WORSE? How could things get any worse? Take a look around here, Ellen. We're at the threshold of hell!"
Or, "What's that sound? You hear it? It's a funny squeaky sound" followed with, "You couldn't hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant..."
Wow, thats funny.
Random Trivia... The home of the Griswolds is also the home of the Murtaughs in the Lethal Weapon movies. Same home on the same Warner Brothers backlot.
Scott Latta says, "Christmas Vacation" holds up. It just holds up year after year. It's the Cal Ripken of movies. The Zaxby's. It just comes to work every time and always leaves you feeling pretty satisfied with the whole experience