Film
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- Director
- Jeremiah S. Chechik
- Certificate
- 12A
- Running Time
- 97 mins
All hapless Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants is a perfect family Christmas. Needless to say, a series of disasters turn all his plans to crap. This one didn’t get much of a release back in 1990 and was poorly received by critics. But it found an appreciative audience on video and is now recognised as something of a festive comedy classic.
Interestingly, this is another of those films that have been reclassified upwards for these new prudish times. It was originally released with a PG certificate, but is now rated 12A. Here’s what the BBFC figures you might find offensive: “There is infrequent use of strong language (‘f**k’), as well as milder terms such as ‘Christ’, ‘God’, ‘shit’, ‘asshole’, ‘piss’, ‘hell’, ‘damn’, ‘crap’, ‘screw’, ‘bitch’, ‘Jesus’, ‘dick’, ‘cock’ and ‘frigging’. A man makes a middle-finger gesture. A man refers to a preacher ‘screwing the hockey player’. Another ogles a shop assistant’s body and imagines her removing her swimsuit, with partial breast nudity. A man suggests time alone with his wife, and asks her to fetch the ‘rubber sheets and the gerbils’. There is mild innuendo.” Splendid, huh?
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