Nicolette Scorsese in Christmas Vacation (1989)

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Christmas Vacation (1989) is the third in the Chevy Chase/Beverly D'Angelo vacation series. This time, their families are taking the vacation to visit them for an old fashioned Christmas.

For me, this is the best performance of the four vacation films from Chevy Chase. The daughter, Audrey, is played by a very young Juliette Lewis this time, and Nicolette Scorsese has a short part in probably the funniest scene in the film, when Chase is overwhelmed by her cleavage in a department store, and again when he fantasizes about her naked in the pool he has ordered.

The film is full of clever dialogue, especially from Chase including:

"Hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! Hallelujah!"

Indeed, they had to change some dialogue to get a PG rating in the UK. I believe I see evidence of the good old MPAA as well. His father says: "You cocked it up." I suspect it was originally a better-known phrase. Also, the scene where Nicolette Scorsese is getting out of the pool shows the very top of her areola in one frame only. This was probably cut down at the request of the MPAA.

Nudity Report: The only exposure is from Scorsese. Lewis is included as it was an early performance, and D'Angelo shows some cleavage.

Critics Vote: Leonard Maltin likes it at three stars, although he calls it uneven, while Roger Ebert thought it didn't work at two stars.

IMDB Summary: IMDB readers say 6.2 out of 10, which is not bad for a comedy.

Box Office: Box office was very strong with a domestic gross of $71.32m, and US rentals have earned an additional $34.8m.

DVD Info: The transfer could be much better. Some scenes are washed out, lacking color saturation and contrast, while others are grainy. It really could have used a director's cut, a better transfer, deleted scenes and commentary. Nonetheless, I watch this every year.

Written by: Tuna ...courtesy of Scoopy.net