Delayed Reaction: Vacation

Premise: John Hughes' Vacation without John Hughes. That's not a key ingredient, right?

 

Midway through this movie, something occurred to me: maybe I don't like Ed Helms. I thought I liked Ed Helms. He's always seemed like a nice and funny guy. He's been in a lot of shows and movies that I've seen, and I don't come away from them thinking he was the problem. But, I think a little more about it, and I'm less convinced. His Daily Show stint was mostly before I started watching, so I first noticed him from The Office: a show that I liked a lot when it aired but haven't wanted to rewatch for a while. In fact, the last time I tried rewatching the show, I bailed around the time when he was becoming a more significant part. The Hangover movies aged poorly. I don't particularly love when he guests on a sitcom I like. I really didn't like this movie. There's a reason why Father Figures was buried. Even though I liked Tag more than most people, he was far from my favorite part of it...Do I dislike Ed Helms?

 

Or maybe I disliked Ed Helms. His 2021 has been spectacular. He's a real and relatable human in the delightful Peacock series Rutherford Falls and the Sundance gem Together Together. Maybe I just don't need him to try so hard. That's what made those two things much better with him.

 

Rather, my issue with Vacation has more to do with the fact that it plays like someone learned all the wrong lessons from the Farrelly Brothers. The Farrelly's were influenced by John Hughes' ability to mix the inappropriate with the charming as well as the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker no-holds-barred approach to finding jokes. The Farrellys translated that into movies like Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary which got filthy and weird without losing the thread of what people liked about the characters. Vacation attempts the same things, but the result is a movie that I couldn't find a way into.

 

The original Vacation isn't a sacred text for me. Christmas Vacation is the one I probably like the best, and even that one I'm pretty indifferent about. This reboot/sequel lost me with the trailer, if I'm being honest. They spotlight the scene when the family goes into the hot springs that turns out to be a medical waste sight. The whole thing makes me gag just thinking about it. I don't do needles. I don't do shit jokes*. That scene is wholly repellant to me. So, how about I be generous and say that it's not my kind of humor.

 

*Weird clarification. Shitting I can find funny. Think, season 2 of American Vandal. The second that it becomes shit, it stops being funny to me. I can't really explain why. That's just how my brain works.

 

None of the humor in this works for me. You'd think with all the crazy things the movie tries at least one joke would break through. None did though. It was a lot of Movie 43 humor that I wanted no part of. Oh, the little brother has elaborate jokes about the older brother having a vagina. Yeah, Chris Hemsworth has a giant dick. For Chevy Chase to show up, you have to let him do some physical comedy that only he finds funny. Cool, Ed Helms sounds like a child predator when he's trying to be his son's wingman. All this stuff is humor I've been able to find funny in some way in other movies. I'm not highbrow, I promise. None of it worked here though. It all felt very lazy.

 

Verdict: Strongly Don't Recommend