‘Vacation’ Hits the Road With $1.2 Million Tuesday Night

Before we welcome the Griswolds back to the big screen, we’re taking a look at what the original “Vacation” kids have been up to over the years. (Vacation is written and directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, of the disgusting Bosses franchise.) Other than that, little here merits a further Vacation spin-off but for the rental vehicle, an Albanian-made Tartan Prancer. “As soon as I realized this is not a remake, and I wasn’t going to be corrupting Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold, but rather inventing a new, adult Rusty Griswold, and all the characters are new, and the story is completely fresh, suddenly I was like, ‘Oh, this is fun”.

The premise is similar to the original in that a mom, dad, and two kids hit the road with Walley World as their ultimate destination.

The original Vacation movies were inspired by writer John Hughes’ own family vacation experiences, and they had a genuine warmth underneath their sometimes crass comedy.

Lacks the wickedly amusing spirit of the original “Vacation”.

Euro: What is the best or worst family vacation you have been on? Rusty’s a decent man who’s trying to connect with his family and save his floundering marriage (the spontaneity and spark are noticeably missing).

Applegate dutifully plays the role of an unruly woman tamed by domesticity, constantly reassuring Rusty of his capabilities as a man. Helms gives Rusty more layers than you’d expect and he’s the emotional center of the film.

The usually likable Helms does a variation on the cheerfully clueless, lovable semi-loser persona he’s often played on TV and in the movies. Oh, and as we and Rusty and Debbie get to see in detail (graphic detail at the end of the movie), he is exceptionally generously endowed and feels very, very good about it. And this is – really – the highlight of the movie. The chemistry’s strong between Applegate and Helms and both can throw out zingers or slide in humorous asides with the best of them.

“The new “Vacation” scores a laugh here and there, but it also proves the adage that you can’t go home again”, wrote Rafer Guzman from Newsday.

Skyler Gisondo, Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, and Steele Stebbins in Vacation.

So, it turns out Chris Hemsworth has wonderful comic chops as well.

Along the way, they’ll visit Mom’s Memphis alma mater (Mom’s college nickname was “Debbie Do-Anything”, apparently), catch up with Rusty’s sister (Leslie Mann) who married a hunky Texas weatherman/rancher (Chris Hemsworth), raft the Grand Canyon (Charlie Day’s their manic depressive guide) and spend a fortune at a theme park. He’s extremely easy on the eyes and can charm the trousers off a snake, and apparently that’s all it takes to read the weather off of a teleprompter in Stone’s part of town. In ye olde National Lampoon fashion, there are also a few visual gags centered on puking and erections (luckily, not in the same frame).