MovieChat Forums > National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) Discussion > Did anyone get tired of the slapstick hu...

Did anyone get tired of the slapstick humor?


I mean you can only show Clark destroying his house so many times and have it be funny. The last act of this film was just bad, like cringeworthy bad.

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Nope. It's a live action cartoon.

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THIS FILM IS A CLASSIC.THE HUMOR IS CONSISTANT WITH THE PRECEDING FILMS...ALSO CRINGEWORTHY IS AN AWKWARD AND EMBARASSING WORD.

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Uh no, the original didn't have nearly this level of juvenile slapstick. Never liked European Vacation.

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UH,YES.AND OBVIOUSLY EUROPEAN AND VEGAS ARE RED HEADED STEP CHILDREN.

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I honestly can’t think of any slapstick in the original, maybe John Candy getting shot in the ass with a BB gun but that’s all I can think of. I didn’t even think the original was that funny but it definitely had more laughs than Christmas. The humor in the original seemed to be more about interactions between the characters and their personalities which is a lot funnier than just watching a guy destroy his house and get hurt for 90 minutes. That kind of humor works in maybe a home improvement episode because it only has to be funny for 22 minutes, it’s hard to keep that level of juvenile humor up for a full movie and Christmas vacation doesn’t pull it off.

Also I’m not excusing European or Vegas, they weren’t funny either

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I GET WHAT YOURE SAYING..THING IS,FOR MILLIONS OF US.IT DOES PULL IT OFF.IN MY HOUSE IT GETS A REWATCH EVERY CHRISTMAS EVE,SINCE I WAS KID,IM 38 NOW.MIGHT NOT BE FOR YOU,BUT IT IS A CLASSIC...MORE SO THAN THE ORIGINAL.

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Odd sense of humor you have but you do you

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YOU ARE AWARE THAT IT PLAYS ON TELEVISION EVERY YEAR,THEY SELL MERCHANDISE EVERY YEAR(I HAVE 4 SHIRTS)..THE VHS,DVD AND BLU RAYS HAVE ALL BEEN GOOD SELLERS.I AM VERY SURE IT ISNT FOR EVERYONE....ITS FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGH.

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And it’s my opinion you have a strange sense of humor

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Agreed. The first is so far superior it can't even be quantified. This one just went absolutely off the rails. What it feels like is a TV movie sequel to the first that felt it needed to do so much more (aka try way too hard) just to desperately get people to watch. I have NEVER been able to figure out why people go so nuts over this movie.

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Yeah I have never understood what the fuss over this film is, it seems to be appealing to the lowest common denominator.

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I cant believe your standing in my living room Eddie. Yeah im excited about it too.

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Not funny

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No, I got tired of the gross stuff from Cousin Eddy's family. I also was angry Clark's father-in-law never got his comeuppance. He was such a jack-ass.

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I did. But I'm also not a big fan of comedy. The only vacation movie I liked was the first one.

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Me too but even the original kind of struggled after Clark’s rant in the car.

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No, Chevy Chase is very good at slapstick. He can make opening a circular shutter in an attic funny.

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While I don’t agree with you, I do get where you’re coming from. I find Home Alone excruciatingly unfunny, but understand that so many find it a classic. My wife and I saw Christmas Vacation on its opening weekend in 1989 and the roar of laughter was deafening. In fact, we went back to see it 4 or 5 more times because many of the funniest lines were drowned out by laughter. And, yes, people laughed at the slapstick.

It’s hard to tell what people will like. The world would be a pretty dull place if we all thought and felt the same way.

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What about it do you find funny?

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I did... after I was forced to watch it maybe a dozen times or more.

For years my wife forced this movie and Scrooged upon our family every Christmas.

Now I hate both of them with the heat of a 1000 white-hot sons.

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your wife was correct to force this film on you. it is one of the few quality christmas film that have been made.

but she was wrong to force scrooged on you. that film is shit. it have right set up - bill murrays start and richard donner direct. but it hit all wrong note.

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So, you actually did not enjoy this crap, you were conditioned to “like” it by peer pressure and concensus acclaim. That is a piss poor endorsement of this alleged comedy. “My wife made me do it.” Please resign your membership in The Men’s Club, nutless.

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