3 Good 3 Bad: Movies About Taking A Vacation

[nextpage title=”NEXT” ]As most of us look forward to the time off at work rather than the time on, it’s hard not to think about what and where you’ll be going or doing while on vacation. The movies of course know this and so churn out movie where lots of a good looking people live it up in resorts and on beaches, making it hard for us not to what to go there as well. But now all vacation movies are the same. Some make the trip worthwhile and some, well, making staying home sound better. Here’s a fun list of 3 good and 3 bad movies all about going on vacation. And we’ll start with the greatest ever made …[/nextpage][nextpage title=”NEXT” ]

National Lampoon’s Vacation

Way back in 1983, Chevy Chase was already a household name, his one memorable season on Saturday Night Live opening doors to get starring roles in big production movies. However, it wasn’t until he took the lead as Clark Griswold in this Harold Ramis vacation movie that he cemented his legacy, becoming a building block for a franchise that also produced one of the best Christmas movies of all time. Here, as Clark, he takes his family across country to to see Walley World, or at least tries, as anything and everything that can go wrong does. It’s a funny, sometimes dark, outing with a host of now iconic moments that still make it every reason to be on top. However, the reboot 32 years later …[/nextpage][nextpage title=”NEXT” ]

Vacation

Did you ever want to know what happened Clark’s son Rusty? Here you go. This sort of remake of the classic first in the Vacation franchise has grown up Rusty (Ed Helms) now taking his family across country to see Walley World and yup, everything goes wrong this time, too. Except, now, it’s hopelessly lost. Vapid and humorless, mean and uninspired, it’s a weak attempt to tickle our nostalgia bone, missing the mark completely in taking the tried and true formula and making it work. Cancel your reservation and skip this awful holiday. We recommend something on horseback instead …[/nextpage][nextpage title=”NEXT” ]

City Slickers

Sometimes a comedy movie doesn’t know it’s a whole lot more than it is, the sum total a moving and kind of life-affirming journey that does more for to make you feel good than drive you to laugh. That’s the whole business behind this 1991 comedy from Billy Crystal, directed by Ron Underwood. Crystal plays a married ad man who isn’t all that satisfied with it all and so this year, takes his yearly male-bonding trip with his two pals (Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby) to someplace different, the plains of the American West for a cattle drive. With an award winning turn from Jack Palace, this uncommon comedy is genuinely funny but also deeply human with some surprisingly good moments that make it a trip well worth taking. Unlike …[/nextpage][nextpage title=”NEXT” ]

Couple’s Retreat

The idea is sound. A married couple on the rocks decide to make one last ditch effort to save their future and sign up for a holiday retreat in the tropics with a workshop schedule to rebuild their relationship. Thing is, to help pay for it, they get three other couples to join them and well, it doesn’t go quite the way they planned. It’s just not fun watching these people bicker and squabble in paradise, and with star power like Jason Bateman, Vince Vaughn, Faizon Love, Malin Akerman and Kristen Bell in the cast, you’d think it’d be a hoot. It’s not. Contrived and with ‘funny’ moments that go on far too long, this is a generic experience with a path so predictable you know the ending before it starts. Let’s get more romantic with …[/nextpage][nextpage title=”NEXT” ]

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Set in the heat of summer in Spain, two young women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) have come for vacation, the two good friends but of polar opposite personalities. They soon meet the dashing  Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), an artist with a musky allure. He invites the two to join him for the weekend in a nearby city, teasing good food, wine, and lots of lovemaking. Cristina is in but it take convincing to get Vicky aboard, who goes simply to keep an eye on things. When they arrive to find he is his former wife  María Elena (Penelope Cruz) is still in the picture, it has consequences. An unusual film from Woody Allen, this is a lush and emotional holiday that does it right. Speaking of a road trip …[/nextpage][nextpage title=”NEXT” ]

RV

We all loved Robin Williams. The man was a legend and his work still influences so many, but let’s face it, he didn’t all find himself in the best of movies. In 2006, he starred in a film from director Barry Sonnenfeld that had obvious potential but spun off the road early. Williams plays a good natured father of a wildly dysfunctional family who, at a company picnic is told his vacation is cancelled and must attend a meeting in Colorado. In hopes of making the best of it, he hides this from his family and rents a massive RV to take them along. Chaos ensues. Whatever jokes you think about involving an RV and a road trip, well, aim lower because that’s what’s here, making this a dreary, obvious journey that’s made only watchable by the hyper efforts of Williams and co-stars Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth. Park this and leave it on the side of the road.[/nextpage][nextpage title=”NEXT” ]

BONUS: Summer Resort

This little comedy with John Candy isn’t all that imaginative but does have some good fun with the material, led by the endlessly charming Candy. He plays a father, who takes his family on a vacation in Florida, only to run afoul of all kinds of mishaps, including showing up at the wrong house. Filled with the usual ups and downs, ending up with a boat race of all things, this is endearing and funny but not all the inspiring. It has a strong fan base and plenty of good moments but some might find it a bit meh. What do you think?[/nextpage]