[net.movies] Vacation

welsch@houxu.UUCP (07/30/83)

I saw Vacation last night and enjoyed it. Vacation is satire not
comedy. Satire is frequently funny, but not necessarily so.
Vacation viewed as comedy is poor; viewed as satire it is very
good.  

The story is about an average upper middle class American family
on their vacation. The father is determined to have a good time
and to do it his way, regardless of what obstacles he must
overcome. The mother is determined to hold the family together
despite her husband's fantasies. The children are going along for
the ride knowing that their parents are doing all this for them,
but not certain why. Somehow the family manages to overcome all
the trials and tribulations. We know at the end that they will
look back on the Vacation fondly, having forgotten the blunders
and remembering only the joy.

I found the acting superb, the script good, the filming good,
the timing and the pace of the film excellent.

					Larry Welsch
					houxu!welsch

ryl@ihlts.UUCP (08/16/83)

   For those of us who don't have the intellectual taste
for the "My Dinner with Andre" debate, I suggest a quick
trip to see "National Lampoon's Vacation."
   With the sponsor's name prominently included in the
title, you can guess exactly what to expect:  crude humor
that attacks every stereotype possible -- blacks, farmers,
the elderly, obsequious security personnel -- sick humor
about killing helpless animals, and several examples of
totally gratuitous nudity and profanity.
   While there are no overpowering guffaws in this movie,
there is a pretty steady stream of chuckles.
   Gene Siskel panned this movie in the Chicago Tribune,
but what does he know?  He's just a feces-sniffing effeminate
wimp who depends on escaped zoo animals for sexual gratification.
We loyal subscribers to NatLamp know true comedic genius
when we see it, and maybe sometime we will.  For now, we'll
settle for this.

	Bob Lied, Misanthrope
	...ihnp4!ihlts!ryl

P.S.  For those who read the story in N.L. a couple of months
ago, the story does not end with Dad shooting Walt Disney in
the leg, although that would have been much better.