“The National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is a 1989 film bound to make viewers laugh. It is about Clark Griswold and his family’s inconveniences. The movie contains all of the classic holiday events from cutting down the Christmas tree and forgetting the saw, to hanging up lights around the house and them not working. This movie will get you into a holly and jolly mood.

Getting all of your family together under one roof for the holidays can be chaotic, and the crazy reality of it is shown in this movie. Clark and his family are often seen making compromises for the crazy family by the kids giving up their rooms and sharing a bed to aunt Bethany wrapping her cat as a present.

This movie does a good job on showing how Christmas and the holiday season is not about gifts, but about spending time with your family. When it is the holiday season, people like Clark and his family spend money on gifts for their loved ones. Clark’s cousin, Eddie and his wife Catherine unfortunately don’t have the money to spend on their two kids. Clark spreads the holiday cheer by lending Eddie money to give gifts to his kids so they continue to believe in Santa. This gives a perfect soft touch to the movie to show how some people can’t afford to get many or expensive gifts for their loved ones.

Throughout the movie, there were many laughable moments as well, from the Christmas tree lighting on fire, to Clark getting stuck in the attic in his pajamas. Even though the movie would be funny for little kids, it also had its fair share of adult humor making it a movie for everyone.

Available on Amazon Prime Video, Youtube, Apple TV, and Google Play, this movie is accessible, unfortunately, to watch the movie you must pay from either $2.99 or $3.99 depending on what service you are watching from. When watching the movie on Amazon Prime Video there is a feature where you can see the parts on where they had messed up on a scene called ‘goofs’ For instance, Clark was talking to a woman at the mall about a Christmas gift for his wife, in one shot he had on a tie tied tightly around his neck and in the next shot it was loose a or the reflection of the camera crew in a coffee pot. This feature also includes movie trivia throughout.

Although this film is old, it is a classic filled with humor and sweet family moments making it one of the best Christmas movies for the holiday season.

Rating: 5/5