I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not (2025)

An impartial look at the comedic actor known for playing bumbling, arrogant characters with his trademark acerbic wit, from his beginnings with National Lampoon to his meteoric rise on Saturday Night Live; and the flourishing film career at the height of his popularity, before his perceived fall from grace. 

I've always liked Chevy Chase. Even when the world says you shouldn't like 'this person' because of 'this, that or the other.' Honestly, I relate more to the outcasts than anything. Once you get past his thorny exterior, you realize he's full of contradictory layers; thin-skinned and sensitive to criticism, but just wants to be loved. Even when he rubs people the wrong way, there's a self-awareness of coping and pain behind his eyes. This doc features him, warts and all. My only complaint is that it feels like it merely scratches the surface.

3 pratfalls out of 5

Vegas Vacation (1997)

A bit of the spark is gone in the fourth Griswold family adventure, but it's still a rowdy good time if you're into Chevy Chase at his manic best. Clark decides to take the family out on a classy trip to Las Vegas to renew his vows with Ellen, while Rusty tries underage gambling and Audrey becomes an exotic dancer. The film benefits from Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), returning from two of the previous films. Like the city of Vegas itself, it's a bit hacky, but has its charms.

3 dam tours out of 5

National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)

Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo return, while the rest of the cast gets a shakeup (a running gag that continues throughout the series). The Griswolds win an all-expense-paid trip to Europe and we're off to the races. This film is noticeably rougher compared to its predecessor, and the jokes are broader, but it's still fun to see the Griswolds causing carnage across the world, from Chicago to London, Paris, West Germany and Rome. I don't know why this stuff tickles me so. To see someone trying so hard and failing is relatable, I guess.

3½ unlucky bike riders out of 5

National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

"I must be crazy. I'm on a pilgrimage to see a moose. Praise Marty Moose!"

The classic road trip comedy about a well-meaning father (Chevy Chase) who tries to take his wife and kids on a good old-fashioned family vacation, while everything goes wrong at every turn. John Hughes adapts the memories of his youth while Harold Ramis directs the mayhem. It's down and dirty, but this film is pitch-perfect and I won't hear any differently. That's it. That's the review.

5 girls in a red Ferrari out of 5

Violent Night (2022)

Owing equal parts to Die Hard and Home Alone, this action-comedy sounds a lot better in theory than the sum of its parts. David Harbour plays Jolly Old Saint Nick as a straight-up murderer of bad guys who threaten to ruin one family's holiday. I feel like it wanted to be much more subversive and anti-Christmas, like Bad Santa, but it kind of wimps out on itself. It certainly delivers on the violence, similar to Fatman, and I definitely wasn't expecting Santa to go all Kratos from God of War on everyone. The reason this movie works at all is because it doesn't take its ridiculous premise seriously and has fun with the depraved concept. Christmas sure looks a lot different now than it did as a kid.

2½ deadly Home Alone booby traps out of 5

Paternity (1981)

A weak and occasionally sweet comedy in which a forty-four-year-old Burt Reynolds wants to spurt Reynolds into Beverly D'Angelo. But he doesn't want any of that relationship nonsense, he just wants the baby. She's his emu.
It's as predicable as a broken traffic light, but it gave me one good chuckle.

2 biological functions out of 5

VACATION [2015]

The fifth installment of the long-running Vacation series has Ed Helms stepping in for Chevy Chase in the lead role as Clark Griswold's son, Rusty, now all grown up and with a suffering family of his own.
It basically follows the story of the first film, only now it's a whole new generation of Griswolds making their way to the infamous Walley World amusement park.
Overprotective fan-babies of the original series will scoff at the change in tone from the original films but it's not like they were cinematic gold to begin with.  The films were directionless silly humored and not particularly intelligent but they supplied laughs-a-plenty and that's where this film succeeds if you're ready and willing to lower your expectations to a not-so-classic but highly cherished comedy series of the '80's.

3 "mud" facials out of 5

The Sentinel (1977)

Michael Winner’s technique can be as subtle as a sledgehammer meeting a grapefruit, but I find a lot of his stuff watchable, nevertheless. Sentinel is technically a horror film, but it’s the kind of sinister horror that builds slowly from a foundation of regular drama, not unlike Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1973), two films from which it borrows heavily.
It’s the story of a female model that moves into a NY apartment complex and quickly discovers that her neighbours are an oddball bunch. Shortly after that strange things begin to happen in the night.
A lot of it failed to catch hold of me, but there are two scenes that I’ll never forget: an uninhibited Beverly D'Angelo and a very chilling finale.

3½ abandoned hopes out of 5

Lightning Jack (1994)

A comedy Western written by and starring Paul Hogan that I unfairly predicted would be Crocodile Dundee in the Wild West. It isn't.
Jack’s a sharp shooter with hyperopia. His partner Ben can’t speak. Robbing banks should be the last thing they attempt, but provided you don’t get caught it’s an efficient and quick way to make a name for yourself as an outlaw.
Cuba does well despite not uttering a word, helping poke fun at people with prejudges. Hogan successfully calls upon his ability to pretend to be one thing while secretly being the opposite. Neither man is the sharpest tool in the box.
Overall, it's simplistic fun with some decent jokes and nice scenery.

2½ fake charms out of 5

AMERICAN HISTORY X [1998]

Director Tony Kaye's powerful drama American History X is the type of film that seems like it will linger with the viewer for the rest of their lives.
As disturbingly compelling as the narrative is, one can't help but notice the haunted performance played with perfection by Edward Norton.  Aided by a truly impressive cast, the film is told in a non-linear style that bounces back & forth between color and a wonderfully effective black & white.  The end result is a piece of great cinema that will probably leave the viewer stunned, deeply saddened and probably speechless for the duration of the end credits.

5 basketball courts out of 5

Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)

Biopic that tells the story of country and western star Loretta Lynn from her teenage years to the heights of her fame. It’s a rags-to-riches tale with more time spent on the rags, meaning it’s bleak a lot of the time. And the later years are rushed. What makes it good is Sissy Spacek. It’s a stretch of the imagination to see her as aged fourteen, but as Loretta grows emotionally and physically Sissy gets everything right; she even does her own vocals.

3½ honky tonks out of 5

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

The third installment in the Vacation series is also the quintessential standalone movie about staying home for the holidays. It covers all of the usual bases; putting up Christmas decorations, putting up with family, putting up with the stresses of work and bonuses and all the bullshit that goes along with it. It's one of those movies that grows with you year after year until it can do no wrong; it becomes perfect. One of the most laugh-out-loud funniest movies and enjoyable parts of the season, as far as I'm concerned. 

Chevy Chase's incredulous look at the end says it all: I did it.

5 Jelly of the Month Clubs out of 5