Vacation (2015)
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A family's road trip to a theme park becomes a series of bizarre and chaotic mishaps.
The story
Rusty Griswold, a pilot living in suburban Chicago, is in a stale relationship with his wife Debbie and their two sons, James and Kevin. After hearing about their friends' trip to Paris, Rusty decides to take his family on an alternative summer vacation. Instead of their usual trip to a cabin in Michigan, he plans a road trip from Chicago to Walley World. To facilitate the journey, he rents a bizarre, over-complicated minivan called the Tartan Prancer. The family sets off on a journey that leads them through various locations, encountering unexpected obstacles and personal revelations along the way.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Rusty Griswold, a pilot in a stale marriage, takes his wife Debbie and their two sons, James and Kevin, on a road trip from Chicago to Walley World in a bizarre minivan called the Tartan Prancer. The journey is plagued by mishaps: Debbie's past as a 'promiscuous' sorority sister is revealed in Memphis, they are led to a sewage dump in Arkansas, and their van is trashed. In Texas, Rusty faces tension over his wife's interactions with her sister's husband, Stone. After a chaotic encounter with police at the Four Corners Monument and a dangerous rafting trip in the Grand Canyon, the family is rescued by a truck driver who takes them to San Francisco. There, they stay with Rusty's parents, Clark and Ellen. After a reconciliation, Rusty takes the family to Walley World in a 'Wagon Queen Family Truckster'. They eventually win a confrontation with a rival family and ride a roller coaster that stalls. Finally, Rusty books a solo trip to Paris for himself and Debbie, while the boys are sent home.
- First release year
- 2015
- Runtime (minutes)
- 99
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Francis Daley; Jonathan Goldstein
- Writers
- John Francis Daley · writer; Jonathan Goldstein · writer
- Cast and characters
- Ed Helms · Russell "Rusty" Griswold; Christina Applegate · Debbie Fletcher-Griswold; Skyler Gisondo · James Griswold; Steele Stebbins · Kevin Griswold; Leslie Mann · Audrey Griswold-Crandall; Chris Hemsworth · Stone Crandall; Chevy Chase · Clark Griswold; Beverly D'Angelo · Ellen Griswold
- Genres
- comedy; road movie
- Themes
- family dynamics; nostalgia
- Tone and mood
- comedy
- Premise and plot tags
- road trip; sequel
- Source material / true-story basis
- National Lampoon's Vacation film series
- Franchise connections
- National Lampoon's Vacation
- Content notes
- R-rated
- Reception
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 27% · scale: percentage · review count: 177; Metacritic · score: 34 · scale: 100 · review count: 33; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The Tartan Prancer is a heavily modified Toyota Previa.; The film was released on the 32nd anniversary of the first Vacation film.; The film was originally set for release in October and November before moving to July.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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