I've seen this film approximately 30 to 40 times in my life, and I never get tired of it. Boneheaded, but well meaning father, Clark Griswold, driving his wife and two kids on a cross country family vacation, from Chicago to a California theme park, to spend time with all of them, before the kids are too old for such things.
Needless to say, absolutely nothing goes according to plans: they got lost before even leaving Chicago. Their new car isn't what they had planned. They're saddled with driving an obnoxious aunt to Phoenix. They get lost in the Arizona desert, after visiting obnoxious, trailer trash in-laws, and then robbed by local hicks. All of these absurd, yet wholly possible, circumstances and occurrences pile up, yet Clark Griswold (Chase, in one of his funniest roles as the hapless, clueless father) is determined to have a good holiday with the family, even if it kills them. And a junkyard dog. And Aunt Edna.
Beverly D'Angelo is equally good as the (sexy, but not overly) housewife who has enough disaster and wants to turn around and go home.
Great score by Lindsay Buckingham also.
The film is only let down a bit by the climax, when they actually get to the theme park, the laughs fizzle away. But, perhaps that was the filmmakers' intent? The journey is more memorable than the destination, as is sometimes the case.
