National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Special Edition) (1989)

Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
In the course of the three National Lampoon vacation movies, Clark Griswold has become an emblem for all that is sweetest and most ineffectual in the Hollywood husband. What he wishes for his family, most desperately, is that they have a good time. All he is able to deliver is chaos and hair-raising misadventures. His wife is at least loving and grateful, but his two children are thoroughly weary of his schemes and have lost all faith in his ability to deliver on his promises..."National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," the third in the series, rings a small change on the formula. Instead of the Griswolds going on vacation, their relatives take vacations to visit them. By Christmas Eve, the Griswold household is vibrating with the pent-up anxieties and resentments of two sets of in-laws, a thoroughly wacko uncle and aunt, and a hillbilly cousin who seems to have traveled in his camper directly from Dogpatch...None of these people are particularly good examples of the Christmas spirit. And the Griswsold children have grown sullen and ill-tempered, especially when Clark tries to enlist them in such projects as decorating the home with 125,000 light bulbs. Everything that can possibly go wrong will, of course, go wrong, and that includes Griswold locking himself in the attic, falling off the roof and being assaulted by the hillbilly cousin's ravenous hound...There are long stretches in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" when this almost works. The movie is curious in how close it comes to delivering on its material: Sequence after sequence seems to contain all the necessary material, to be well on the way toward a payoff, and then it somehow doesn't work...You have the odd sensation, watching the movie, that it's straining to get off the ground but simply doesn't have the juice. - Roger Ebert
 
ReelViews 7 of 10
Christmas Vacation is considered by many film critics to be a "guilty pleasure" - largely because some of the set pieces are as hilarious as they are juvenile. Unfortunately, Christmas Vacation also suffers from the malaise that plagues the other three Vacation films (1983's Vacation, 1985's European Vacation, and 1997's Vegas Vacation) - too little material to sustain a 90+ minute motion picture. At about two-thirds of its official length, Christmas Vacation might have been a joy to the world...The reason Christmas Vacation works is that it takes situations that are familiar to most families and produces humor by exaggerating them to astounding lengths. Nevertheless, at the core of each vignette lies an experience that most viewers will be intimately familiar with. Many of the common "Christmas situations" are crammed into these 90 minutes: the trek to get the family Christmas tree, shopping at a department store, fumbling around in the attic, putting up the decorations, cooking the holiday dinner, and dealing with too many relatives in too little space. Of course, since our heroes are the Griswolds, Murphy's Law is in full force - anything that can go wrong, does...For anyone trying to get into the Christmas mood, Christmas Vacation is perhaps not the best choice of cinematic fare. It doesn't go all that well with chestnuts roasting on an open fire (unless they're exploding all over the place) or Jack Frost nipping at your nose (unless it results in frostbite). However, for those who are tired of peace on earth and goodwill to men, the third outing of the Griswolds offers a reminder that, for some, the real meaning of the season has as much to do with annoying the neighbors and putting up with the relatives as it does with something more wholesome. - James Berardinelli