Picking a favorite line from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is nearly impossible, so let’s just go with the one that struck me this year. Chevy Chase’s long-suffering Clark W. Griswold is grocery shopping with his sweet but repellent cousin-in-law Eddie, played by Randy Quaid. As they small-talk about work, Eddie asks, “Your company kill off all them people in India not long ago?” To which Clark replies, “No, we missed out on that one.” I’ve seen this movie easily dozens of times, and I’ve never before picked up on the casual horror of Eddie’s barely interested question or the way Clark reframes the slaughter as a missed opportunity. Next year, a different line will jump out at me. There’s a nearly endless supply.
John Hughes’s Vacation films are unique in his oeuvre as a screenwriter, in that the jokes take priority over…
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