The new comedy from the screenwriters of The Unbearable Bosses, the film Vacation, and critics' reviews were described as inferior to the original in charm and level of humor, capable of entertaining, but not claiming to be cult status even remotely. The comedy film "Vacation" is the official remake of the 1983 movie of Groundhog Day directed by Harold Ramis, scripted by the legendary John Hughes.
Plot
Critics, analyzing the film "Vacations", reviews usually leave the storytelling underestimated, since John Daily and Jonathan Goldstein only adapted John Hughes' script to the present. The story underlying both paintings is identical. The main character, the local airline pilot Rusty Griswold, a loving husband and father of two sons, decides to make a surprise for his family. Instead of traditionally spending holidays in the neighboring state in a wretched camping hut, the protagonist is going to take his family to the legendary attractions of Valley World. Moreover, the head of the family is going to scramble across America through a purchased car under the original name Tartan Racehorse. The relatives, having learned about the venture, roll their eyes, not showing much enthusiasm. And Rusty wants to duplicate his adventure from childhood, because he traveled with his parents along this route and is sure that his offspring will also be in wild delight.
Change of era
No wonder the film "Vacation" reviews are called an insane cocktail. The picture combines the features of a sequel, remake and reboot (the movie looks like a new reference point for a promising franchise). The tape draws the stare into the atmosphere that is predominantly warm, with a little sharpness and vulgarity, of the 80s humor. But the creators ignored the main danger that lies in wait for each remake - this is a change in the time period (era). And not so much external as internal, built on political and social contacts, relations in society, at the level of morality, freedom and ethics. In 1983, the original film “Vacations” was criticized by critics as a bold and innovative work that breaks the traditional comedic shackles, raising the level of screen absurdity to the extreme. Now, after "The Bachelor Parties", "Bachelorette Parties" and other "We Are Millerov", the comedy does not look fresh and original. The viewer does not react violently to obscene jokes, curses made by children, and so on. In order to break into the vanguard, you need something more powerful.
New heroes
Nevertheless, there are many advantages in the new comedy "Vacations", actors, for example. The new central characters embodied on the screen could become the favorites of the public. But the creators now and then expose them in an unflattering way. Christina Applegate (“The TV Host”) and Ed Halms (“The Hangover”) are very talented comedians who can saturate their on-screen characters with the “chemistry”. But because of fragments such as stories about the Helsms map (a great tragedy) or the story of Applegate's student adventures, the actors become embarrassed. The authors chose a strange way in order to tie the viewer to the characters in the picture. It is unpleasant to look at the actors of the boys, the children really look inferior. At the same time, Skyler Gizondo (“Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb”) and Steel Stebbins (“House with Paranormal Phenomena 2”) have some experience working in the cinema.
Sweetened pill the background
Despite the inventions of the authors, the movie was played exceptionally well. The appearance of Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) in the role of an exemplarily stupid Republican in terms of dedication corresponds to almost DiCaprio in the movie “Django Unchained”. The film’s second plan is presented by brilliant casting: Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo are the pillars of the franchise, the awesome Norman Reedus, the comically funny Chris Hemsworth, the joker Charlie Day and the gorgeous Leslie Mann (“The Other Woman”). Such an abundance of bright cameos in the background almost turned the plot of the film into a set of jokes that are not very skillfully connected. Naturally, the original plot, borrowed from the 1983 film, fastens the components of the new film with the old solution and the outdated gags sometimes work, but the film “Holidays” (the actors are not to blame for that) lack integrity.
Summary
In fairness, it is worth noting that none of the existing previous sequels to the 1983 comedy managed to achieve the high standard of the original tape. Many of them have slipped into a dull direct-on-video format. Against their background, the project of John Daily and Jonathan Goldstein looks cheerful and not at all hopeless, although it also loses to one of the best comedies of John Hughes and Harold Ramis. Some viewers may consider in the comic misadventures of the Griswold family a satire for a purely American life, based on empty illusions and lies. But do not aggravate it, it’s better to recall the “Elena” by Andrey Zvyagintsev, and so the “Vacation” is almost the same, only with hope and funnier.