When Vacation came out in 2015, and it looked to be a reboot of National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), I remember feeling slightly insulted for some reason.  I may sound vague at the end of that last sentence, but that is only because I have grown in my Faith.  It seems strange to me now to take umbrage a film like Vacation, but silly things like that made sense to me at the time.  What is worse, I do not recall being a big fan of the original.  However, when I noticed the new one on Netflix, I thought I would give it a chance.  It is further proof that God laughs at our preconceived notions, even if there is a lot of material in it that I would rather not consume as a Catholic.  At the same time, there were a few chuckles, not enough for me to recommend it, but a few.

Also few are the miles between South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, but there seems to be enough people wanting to take a Vacation between the two cities to warrant a budget commercial airline.  Though it is not as prestigious as some of the bigger companies that send their pilots around the world, Russell “Rusty” Griswold (Ed Helms), is happy to fly for them.  Other pilots, like Ethan (Ron Livingston), who works for the more recognizable outfits, look down on Rusty, but he is able to be home every night with his family.  Because this is a comedy, there will have to be quirks with this unit of four.  Their oldest, James Griswold (Skyler Gisondo), is a gentle hearted, artist type, who is endlessly bullied by his younger brother, Kevin Griswold (Steele Stebbins).  Rusty’s wife, Debbie Fletcher-Griswold (Christina Applegate), is supportive of him, even if she does sometimes wish that he worked for a more respectable enterprise.  The chaos into which he walks upon entering his home is brought to the fore when they host a friendly family for dinner.  He gets envious of their father-son relationship, while she wishes they took better vacations when she describes their recent trip to Paris.  That night before going to bed, he is looking through pictures of their annual jaunt to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and notices her face getting progressively downcast through the years.  Thus, he decides they are going to resurrect a Griswold family tradition: a road trip to the fictional California theme park, Walley World.  Nobody is thrilled about the idea, but Debbie goes with it because it is, at least, something different.  Actually, that line is ironic since they joke in this moment about what they are about to do being similar to the previous film.  Nonetheless, Rusty purchases a special Albanian hybrid van for them to drive, which becomes a source of laughs as they go along.  From there, it is time to get on the road.  To describe every stop of theirs would be tedious, so I will do my best to provide an overview.  There are a couple of concerns between Illinois and California.  For James, it is the chance encounters with Adena (Catherine Missal).  She is also traveling cross country with her family, and they share a moment when they first see each other on the highway.  Their connection is interrupted when Kevin puts a plastic bag over James’ head.  Kevin’s antics come to an end later on, however, when James, who wants to stick up for himself to impress Adena at a hotel at which they are staying, finally realizes he can push around James.  This is sort of similar to what Debbie and Rusty are experiencing.  One of their planned stops is at Rusty’s sister’s place.  Rusty’s sister, Audrey Griswold-Crandall (Leslie Mann), is married to locally famous (at least in Plano, Texas) weatherman Stone Crandall (Chris Hemsworth).  Debbie is barely able to conceal her attraction to the muscular Stone, and the Griswolds are even more indebted to Stone’s family when their car is broken into and their belongings stolen.  Once they get back onto the road, their vehicle runs out of gas in the middle of the desert.  Between the kids’ complaints, and the problems with Debbie, Rusty is ready to quit.  Indeed, he begins walking away when the maniac truck driver (Norman Reedus) that had been following them across the country finally catches up with them.  With the way the driver had been behaving, Rusty assumes he is about to be murdered.  Instead, the driver is there only to return Debbie’s lost wedding ring.  He also offers the Griswolds a ride to San Francisco, which is where Rusty’s parents, Clark (Chevy Chase) and Ellen Griswold (Beverly D’Angelo), operate a bed and breakfast.  When Rusty tells his dad that they are going to return to Chicago instead of carrying on to Walley World, Clark insists that his son continue their journey.  To accomplish this, Clark lends Rusty the station wagon from the original film.  Once they get to the park, the goal is to ride the Velociraptor, their newest and fastest roller coaster.  Everyone else has the same idea, and the Griswolds end up waiting five hours in line.  However, just as they are about to board, Ethan appears with his family and cuts them.  A fight breaks out with the Griswolds triumphing.  Unfortunately, the ride malfunctions while they are upside down, and they have to be evacuated.  Once they are finally in the airport, Rusty hands his sons tickets to Chicago, and announces to Debbie that they are flying to Paris.  They might have to sit in the attendant’s jump seats for the twelve-hour flight, but she is grateful.

Indeed, the purpose of the Vacation in Rusty’s view is to make the Griswolds more appreciative of one another.  That would be a good thing for any Christian dad to suggest.  While listening to Father Michael Schmitz’s Catechism in a Yearpodcast, I was reminded of the Catholic definition of love, one that is centered on following Jesus’ example.  True love is seeking the best for the other person.  While this film is as irreverent as they come, and Rusty is clueless most of the time, I think it is also fair to say that he does what he does because of that kind of love for his family.  What is better is when Debbie recognizes his sacrifice, he shrugs off the compliment by saying that because he likes doing what he does, it does not feel like a sacrifice.  As crazy as it might sound, one can draw a parallel between his attitude and Jesus words to His disciples in Matthew 11:29-30: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”  Rusty treats the various comedic antics that plague them on their journey with patience because he is wanting to show his family a great time.  It is a goal that he has, and when he gets discouraged in its accomplishment, he is reminded by Clark as to why he is doing what he is doing.  It is not about him and his troubles, it is about them and their happiness.  In other words, it is bigger than himself.  God is so much bigger than us, and He knows all our needs better than we do.  Knowing this makes everything right, more so than Walley World or flying to Paris.

That is not to say a Vacation to Paris would be bad, nor is the movie.  Actually, it is bad in some of its content, but chucklesome in other ways.  I still do not recommend it, but there are worse films you could be watching.