Fellman's Movie Reviews

Vacation is a 2015 comedy based off of the original National Lampoon’s Vacation movies. It is a sequel to the last “Vacation” movie, which was “Vegas Vacation” in 1997, and is the sixth movie in the “Vacation” series. There’s a scene in the movie where Ed Helms makes some subtle jokes about this vacation standing on its own, talking about the Griswolds family vacation, in an obvious reference to the movie. But, it’s not true at all. This movie is purely nostalgia based rehashing. They just updated it for the new generation and made it R-rated to make it a little “edgier”. 

I just want to make a point right off the bat, that I have never seen Ed Helms do anything good. I’m just putting that out there, first thing. With that out of the way, this movie is no exception. This is not a good movie. I think once or twice while I was watching it, I chuckled. But aside from that, this is one of the worst comedies I genuinely have ever seen. And Ed Helms is literally a big part of it.  

The script is bad. It’s a bad script. There’s no two ways around it. You can’t sugarcoat it. There’s no euphemisms. “Well, they could’ve done this better…” No. It’s just a bad script. I was reading that like 10 people passed up on the role of Russ Griswold before they settled on Ed Helms. And it’s no wonder. If I had read that script, I would’ve passed on that role, too. Not only is it poorly written, but when you have an actor as bad as Ed Helms, it just compounds how bad of a script it actually is.  

Which makes me feel bad for Christina Applegate. Because it’s a real shame that the girl who played Kelly Bundy, and was in the Anchorman movies, did something this bad, it’s just kind of saddening. But then, all actors have flops now and then. Ryan Reynolds still refuses to talk about Green Lantern… 

There are brief moments of comedy here and there throughout the movie. Like when Chris Hemsworth walks into the Griswold’s room in his underwear and keeps lifting his leg up on the chair to show off his ridiculously oversized dong in one of the cheesiest gags ever written. And, I know that’s literally the point OF the gag. But odds are, there’s a lot of people out there who didn’t take it that way. Comedy is all about interpretation. Most people just saw it as a penis joke. I don’t think it came off as funny as the writers thought it was going to.  

As a matter of factly, I’ll bet that while writing this movie, the writers thought that a lot of the jokes were going to go a whole lot differently on camera than they were when they were writing the script. Half of the movie is downright forgettable. If you’re not waiting for the credits, you’re at least waiting for the next scene. 

So, no. Don’t go and see Vacation. It’s a huge waste of time. Watch one of the other National Lampoon movies instead. Even if you’ve seen “Christmas Vacation” before, it never really gets old, does it? And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…