Vacation

Funny, if you can lip read from the screen

First, the rant - it is humiliating to be an adult, sitting in a movie rated for adults, and watching a film that is beeped out almost completely cause the censors find it in bad taste. That out of the way, Vacation is a fun film that is marred by the obnoxious ways of our censor board.

A remake of the hit franchise of the same name that started in '83, Vacation brings us the Griswold family- an airline pilot who flies a small regional airline and is generally satisfied with the small joys of life. A wife who was a popular kid in college (read the hot one who sleapt around) and has seemingly settled for a laidback husband and life of domesticity. Two kids, the elder one loving guitar and poems more than wrestling and other manly stuff, a younger one who is a bully. the dad decides to break the monotony of summer vacations his family has silently adapted to, and take them to Walley world, a theme park that he decides to drive to.

A dysfunctional family on a road trip is material for immense comedy, the movie does not disappoint there at all. The jokes are raunchy, yet not vulgar. the pranks are bordering on nasty yet you do not squirm. What does make you go all weird in the head is the fact that much of this is beeped out.

The journey to theme park is also a journey to the family rediscovering themselves. The elder brother finds a way to end the bullying by his sibling; the wife realises she had stopped trying to make her marriage work; the husband realises that sometimes it is important to reach out to a dream and not settle- subtle messages that are well intentioned but do not come out strongly. largely because unlike the original film, this one does not have a family the you would root for- you do not care for what happens to their life untill the gags keep rolling. There is Chris Hemsworth in a cameo using his looks as his armoury and playing to the gallery too.

If you are not looking for much meat, and a simple hour and half of nice harmless adult comedy, this one is for you. Yet, hold on, do not go to the movie theaters instead cause, well , nothing is audible thanks to our censors.