You might know that National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was written by John Hughes, the guy behind ’80s classics like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But did you know that before Hughes became a filmmaker he was a contributor to the National Lampoon magazine? In fact, he based his Christmas Vacation screenplay on one of his old Lampoon pieces, “Christmas ’59.” That’s just one of the cheerful facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!
Forget that crazy-expensive David Ayer-Will Smith fantasy-action buddy cop project — David Wain’s National Lampoon origin movie is the most exciting original feature brewing over at Netflix right now. And now that the casting process has begun, things are getting even more interesting for the film, as Joel McHale and Broad City’s John Gemberling have landed two very iconic roles, playing Chevy Chase and John Belushi, respectively.
Full disclosure: I missed the last 10 minutes of Vacation. Last night’s press screening started 20 minutes late, then began without any sound, which lead to a 10 minute delay to correct the technical difficulties. With an unbreakable engagement elsewhere, I had to sneak out right before the very last scene. So take this review with as many grains of salt as you’d like. If you think those final minutes might recontextualize everything that came before to transform a generally miserable comedy into a beacon of transcendent hilarity, so be it. Having sat through the previous 90 minutes, I’m of the opinion that nothing short of the long-lost missing footage from Orson Welles’ Magnificent Ambersons could have redeemed this dreadful film.