One of the funniest movies of 1997, Vegas Vacation lives up to the high level of comic relief expected from this ongoing series from National Lampoon. Though on the low end of the hilarity compared to Vacation, European Vacation, and Christmas Vacation, the movie is nonetheless an incessant tummy laugh comedy in its own right. After all, how can we expect something to live up to the genius of a perfect comedy like Christmas Break? Complete with a new group 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) gets a huge bonus as a reward from the company for inventing a new food preservative, he and his wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) decide it’s best to spend the money on a good old-fashioned family vacation. . But when kids Rusty (Ethan Embry) and Audrey (Marisol Nichols) argue about fate, the only place that gets unanimous criticism from the family is a Las Vegas vacation.
Flying to Las Vegas, the family experiences a series of traps that threaten to destroy them forever. Clark becomes addicted to gambling (even gambling rock-paper-scissors and a guy doing a “I’m thinking of a number between one and ten” routine at a low-cost casino), Ellen becomes the target of the seduction of Wayne Newton, Underage Rusty becomes a superstar of the game under the false identity of Nicholas Pappagiorgio, and Audrey tries exotic dances after an encounter with her stripper cousin Vicki … Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) He puts on another spectacular performance as the dumber-than-relative-doorknob redneck and follows Clark around the casinos lavishly sipping his favorite beverage: 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 cheaply because it’s a nuclear waste graveyard. And Rusty’s various exploits under the alias of Nic Pappagiorgio are extremely hilarious. Meeting a group of quasi-gangster pro gamers, Rusty enjoys the massages, compensation suites, and various adornments associated with the biggest names in the business. Vegas Vacation is downright fun. If you liked the previous movies, don’t miss this …
Continuing the stellar reputation of the Vacation movie series, Vegas Vacation is pure entertainment fun from start to finish. Chevy Chase lives up to his usual antics, and Wayne Newton puts on a classic performance in his role as the home wrecker Griswold. For the whole family, Vegas Vacation is a comedy made for parents and kids alike. And his role as another show stopper on Griswold’s long line of comedies makes Vegas Vacation a must-see …
