“National Lampoon’s Vacation” is the first entry in the “Vacation” series and sadly, it isn’t very impressive. That’s because they throw jokes at us that never make me do anything more than smile. It’s surprising how many people have fond memories of it.

Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase “Fletch”, “Caddyshack”) and his family take a cross-country drive to Walley World. Unfortunately, for the ‘average American’ family, things take a turn for the worst as we see them get into countless situations where we understand the joke but it’s just not very amusing. This is a real shame because I think this seems like a decent premise for a light-hearted comedy.

Chevy Chase is as bad actor as he simply stands there and delivers his lines without putting any effort in and as a result he is only funny when the material is great but here it isn’t. The other members of the family are quite dull. I didn’t like the part John Candy (“Spaceballs”, “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”) got as it isn’t funny and it too small for someone like Candy who can be reasonably funny. I wasn’t keen on the character Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid “Independence Day”) either. There should have been a few crazy characters thrown in there but they are all very bland.

80% of the jokes will put a smile on your face but that’s all this film achieves. Although I don’t care for any of them particularly, I’d say “Christmas Vacation” has at least one or two decent laughs in there so that’s the best one. This first “Vacation” lacks the ability to have you actually laugh out loud or even chuckle. I felt the fun park at the end was a massive disappointment, a few jokes involving the dog aren’t good at all and the family didn’t really see that much of America.