Vacation

“What do all the buttons do?” 

Directed/Written by: John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein
Cast: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins

Swift shot: “I want to live in this movie!” that’s what I told my girlfriend after seeing Vacation.  I want to hang out with the Griswolds and be a voyeur to the insanity that they attract.  Unfortunately, they aren’t real, so the closest I can get is Vacation.  I sure hope Applegate and Helms make this a . . .  permanent vacation and stick around to do more Griswold adventures.

Rusty Griswold (Helms) is all grown up now and has a family of his own, with two sons and a very attractive wife!  Can we all just take a moment and give ol’ Rusty a nice long slow clap, please?  I’ve always wondered how Rusty was going to turn out.  Would he be like his sad Uncle Eddie or his dad, or something unique?  Hell, many times I wondered if he would even live past twenty, with his family’s track record.Rusty does make it well past that, and is successful, to a degree, as an airline pilot.  But, he is a Griswold, so of course he’s not a cool pilot.  In fact, on the pilot pecking order, he’s one step above a cicada.  Rusty isn’t one of those fancy international eagle jockeys, he’s a regional commuter whose trips average less than 20 minutes a hop!

Debbie (Applegate) is Rusty’s wife and the tolerant mother of Kevin (Stebbins) and James (Gisondo).  Kevin is a little miscreant, there’s no other way to describe this mean little bully.  Kevin torments his older brother, who may or may not have a vagina.  Kevin spends the majority of the movie hazing and torturing his older brother, and it isn’t until James’ love interest Adena (Catherine Missal) comes along that we see James might finally stand up to his big . . . I mean, little brother.

Debbie likes her family, but she’s never really had much adventure in her married life.  Rusty is safe, oddly enough, but Rusty is also awkward.  That’s not a shocker.  He clumsily plays at being a great dad, a kind of aloof, fake it til you make it attitude prevails his character.  Rusty tries, he really does, and that is why we love him like we love his dad, Clark.  Rusty is a putz, but he’s not cruel and he is ever the optimist, until he finally snaps.  Don’t forget, he is a Griswold.  Helms earns that badge throughout the film.

Deciding it’s time for a change from their normal trip to some crappy cabin, Rusty has the brilliant idea to take his ungrateful flock to Walley World.  He decides this on the last minute, right before Memorial Day, so the only car he can get is a wonderfully weird Albanian made Tartan Prancer.  I love this car, it is almost as cool as 007’s Aston Martin DB5.  If you’ll allow me to be so bold, “Prancer” acts like a droid, a non-humanoid character within the story literally moving the plot along.  Rusty has no idea what the hell half the functions are for on the key fob, and this becomes a running bit throughout the film.  Every time he mashes a button, we just wait to see what new horrors this mischievous blue knave is going to unleash on the Griswolds.

Rusty manages to gather up his family and it’s off to Walley World.  Almost immediately they run into obstacles along the way, as Rusty tries to keep his family’s spirits up with some communal Seal sing-alongs.  Along their way, with almost 2,600 miles of road, trapped in this tiny gummy looking vehicle, it’s a setup for hilarity.  As far as road trip flicks go, Vacation is on par with Sex Drive and the original Vacation!

I had a smile etched on my face the whole film, and once Rusty meets up with his sister Audrey (Leslie Mann) the laughs came non-stop.  Chris Hemsworth peacocks around as Audrey’s Texas weatherman husband, Stone.  And Rusty tries to keep up with Stone and all his wild sexual bravado.  Some of the funniest scenes happen in Texas.  Where’s the beef?  Texas!

If you loved any of the Vacation movies, this road trip flick is one you must see this Summer!  It’ll remind you that we are all Griswolds at heart.