Just what I expected

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Somehow I managed to miss the release of this cinematic atrocity when it appeared on television. I spotted the title in a bargain DVD bin. I was soon to find out why it was there. I knew from reading the cover that only Eddie and Kathryn from the original Vacation movies were in it, so I tempered my expectations. At least Randy Quaid is usually funny, I thought. As low as the bar was set, this movie managed to pass underneath it with room to spare. Absurd situations, terrible writing, almost completely devoid of humor. I hesitate to call what I saw "acting".A lot of wonderful work was done in several other iterations of the "Vacation" series, and there were some incredibly funny moments. This movie is an insult to the name, a blatant attempt by the studio to put more eyes on a grossly inferior product. This is the only time in my life when I have been tempted to return a $5 DVD.

The best thing I can say about this movie is that it has the original Audrey. That should say something, because nobody ever gives a crap about who plays Audrey. The entire premise is this: cousin Eddie on a desert island. There is no plot or any of that fancy stuff, it's just cousin Eddie sleepwalking through a "Swiss Family Robinson" rip-off together with his unlikeable family members. Also he tries to impress his son, who appears to exist solely for the purpose of delivering stilted dialogue about how this movie connects with the previous installments. You never know what will happen next in this movie, but neither do the writers, if any. This is just written as it goes along. So next uhm, let the guy fight a boar of something. Or fly a plane. Or let him make a funny face, I don't know. This is one of those rare movies that drags itself to the ending from about five seconds in. Incredibly lame in every aspect.

I was out-of-town, visiting an old friend. After dinner, talking, he expressed some reservations about his daughter's boy friend. She's 15, beautiful, smart, athletic, and the young man is also from an excellent family, nice, also athletic (if not as smart). I told him he might just be feeling the normal fatherly concerns; however, a few minutes later the young man arrived, with his DVD of this flick, which he had apparently been anxious for some time to share with the others. These folks have a bona fide home theater set-up, with a screen something in excess of 4 feet, and the two young folks preceded to view it, while the young swain proceeded to extol its virtues almost frame-by-frame.I saw enough in a few moments (and with some fascination in its awfulness) to endorse all of the most critical comments I've seen in scanning some here.I told my friend I wouldn't go so far as to disqualify the young suitor solely on the basis of his liking this opus -- but it certainly seems to warrant his bearing close watch.Some flicks are so-bad-they're-good: the classic "Plan 9 from Outer Space;" and, in my opinion, the wonderfully awful Bruce Jenner/Village People work, "Can't Stop the Music."However, this one remains firmly simply in the awful category.Second/third/fourth "bananas" -- even the best of these (e.g. Tim Conway, Don Knotts, everybody with Seinfeld) have great difficulty in carrying a later starring series (or, as here, film). And these were great supporting characters in their original situations.The "Eddie" character, really at about the 5th- or 6th-banana level in the prior Griswald movies, and never added a whole lot to these, in my opinion. Randy Quaid is a capable actor who has delivered some good performances. His contribution to the prior "Vacation" pic's was average, at best. Both he and the other cast members, many of whom have done some good work in the past, accomplished nothing for their efforts here, except to derive a few years' house payments or some IRA contributions.This whole presentation --- story, performances (from lead to support) couldn't be worse.

Who gave these people money to make a movie? There was nothing funny about it. The fact that the farting dog was the funniest thing about this piece of sickness says it all. First of all, it has nothing to do with Christmas, it just took the name and counted on all those people who liked the Chevy Chase original. They took Randy 'I have no talent, I m just a fat and sweaty pig' Quaid (the only wrong thing about part 1) and made a 'movie' about him...There are only morons in his family, but not the 'aren't they cute' kinda moronic, but the 'don t touch me' kinda moronic. Watching this pile of dirt helps you hope that everyone who takes part in it DIES! They didn't even bother to get the effects in order...when they re on the boat, the only thing that moves is the fake background...when pigface Quaid is in the water you can tell by the lighting that it's in a studio. This movie was sexist (uncle Nick), racist (uncle Nick) and should never have been made..never...throwing the money into a volcano would have had so much more use.Well I hope I reached some of you...Nobody warned me and now I m scarred for life Merry F*cking Christmas