Vacation (2015 film)

Vacation (2015 film)

 

Vacation
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jonathan Goldstein John Francis Daley
Produced by	David Dobkin Chris Bender
Written by	Jonathan Goldstein John Francis Daley
Based on	Characters by John Hughes
Starring	Ed Helms Christina Applegate Leslie Mann Chris Hemsworth
Music by	Mark Mothersbaugh
Cinematography	Barry Peterson
Edited by	Jamie Gross
Production company	New Line Cinema Benderspink Big Kid Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	July 29, 2015
Running time	99 minutes[1][2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$31 million[3]
Box office	$3.8 million[4]

Vacation is a 2015 American comedy film directed and written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (in their directorial debuts). It stars Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, and Chris Hemsworth. It is the fifth theatrical and the seventh total installment of the National Lampoon's Vacation series, and was released by Warner Bros. on July 29, 2015. It received negative reviews upon release.^{[citation needed]}

Contents

• 1 Plot
• 2 Cast
• 3 Production
  • 3.1 Development
  • 3.2 Casting
  • 3.3 Filming
  • 3.4 Music
• 4 Release and reception
  • 4.1 Critical response
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Plot

Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) is a miserable pilot for Econo-Air, and he shares a very dysfunctional relationship with his wife, Debbie (Christina Applegate), and their two sons, the meek and awkward James (Skyler Gisondo) and the vulgar and malicious Kevin (Steele Stebbins). Envious of the vacation the family of his friends, Jack (Keegan-Michael Key) and Nancy (Regina Hall), had in Paris, he decides to nix his family's annual trip to their cabin in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and instead drive cross country to Walley World, just as he did with his parents and sister years ago.
Along the way, the Griswolds make many stops. The first is Memphis, where it's revealed that the otherwise docile Debbie was an extremely promiscuous woman in college. While staying at a motel, James meets Adena (Catherine Missal), a girl his age that he saw while driving on the highway, but is scared away by Rusty trying to entice her towards him in a very creepy awkward way. In Arkansas, they are led to a supposedly hidden spring by a drifter, but when they realize that it's a sewage dump, they return to their car only to see it broken into and their luggage and cash stolen. They're then forced to stop in Texas to receive assistance from Rusty's sister, Audrey (Leslie Mann), and her husband, Stone Crandall (Chris Hemsworth). Rusty begins to suspect tension in his relationship with Debbie due to Stone's obviously outward sexual behavior and actions, but she dispels his suspicions.
Spending the following night at an Arizona campsite, Rusty and Debbie go off to have an unsuccessful attempt at sex at the Four Corners while James finally asserts himself against Kevin with help from Adena (who also happens to be there). The next morning, after nearly getting killed by a suicidal rafting guide (Charlie Day), their rental car runs out of gas in the middle of the desert and explodes, leading Rusty to relent over the miserable trip and walk off alone. After being tailed-down by a seemingly maniac truck driver (Norman Reedus) over what was thought to be a derogatory comment left by Kevin, he instead returns Debbie's missing wedding ring and gives them a lift to San Francisco, where they spend the night at a bed-and-breakfast run by Rusty's parents, Clark (Chevy Chase) and Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), with the intent of flying home to Chicago the next day. It's there that Rusty and Debbie confront each other about their eroding marriage and decide to start over again.
With some coaxing by Clark the next morning, Rusty decides to drive his family to Walley World to ride their newest coaster, Velociraptor. After spending the entire day waiting in line, they are cut off by a more successful airline pilot rival of Rusty's and his family before the announcement of the park's closing. The two families brawl in the queue line, ending with the other one finally deciding to flee. The Griswolds finally board the ride, but it stalls halfway up a loop, and they are rescued after several hours. They are brought closer by the experience, and Rusty uses his airline connections to spend a relaxing vacation in Paris alone with Debbie.

Cast

• Ed Helms as Rusty Griswold
• Christina Applegate as Debbie Griswold, Rusty's wife
• Leslie Mann as Audrey Griswold-Crandall, Rusty's sister
• Chris Hemsworth as Stone Crandall, an up-and-coming anchorman and Audrey's husband
• Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold
• Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold
• Skyler Gisondo as James Griswold, Rusty and Debbie's older son
• Steele Stebbins as Kevin Griswold, Rusty and Debbie's younger son
• Charlie Day as Chad, a river rafting guide
• Keegan-Michael Key^[5] and Regina Hall^[5] as Jack and Nancy Peterson, the heads of an ideal family that is friends with the Griswolds
• Catherine Missal as Adena, James's love interest
• Elizabeth Gillies^[6] as Heather
• Tim Heidecker^[7] as Utah Cop
• Nick Kroll^[7] as Colorado Cop
• Kaitlin Olson^[7] as Arizona Cop
• Michael Peña^[7] as New Mex