Chevy Chase

In an attempt to rekindle the memories of his childhood, Rusty Griswold, a pilot, drives across the country with his wife and children.

When Lou's shot in the groin, Nick and Jacob drag him in the Hot Tub Time Machine to go back in time and save Lou. The three end up 10 years in the future, where they need to go to find the shooter. When Lou gets killed, Nick and Jacob fire up the hot tub time machine to get back to the past, but they inadvertently land in the future with Adam Jr. Now they have to alter the future in order to save the past, which is really the present. —Movie Guy Five years after the events of the first film, Lou Dorchen and Nick Webber have become rich and famous, with Lou becoming a multi-billionaire and Nick being a successful music singer. At Lou's celebratory party, Lou is shot in the groin. Jacob (Lou's son) and Nick drag him to the hot tub time machine and activate it to travel back in time to find and stop the killer. When they awaken they find themselves ten years in the future, where Jacob is in charge of Lou's mansion. After determining that they are in an alternate time-line where Lou's killer is from this future, they go to their friend Adam Yates's home, only to meet his son Adam Yates Stedmeyer (Adam Jr.) who is engaged to a girl named Jill..

The movie follows a group of best friends who have got bored with their adult lives: Adam (Cusack) has been dumped by his girlfriend; Lou (Corddry) is a party guy who can't find the party; Nick's (Robinson) wife controls his every move; and videogame-obsessed Jacob (Duke) won't leave his basement. After a crazy night of drinking in a ski resort hot tub, the men wake up, heads' pounding, in the year 1986. This is their chance to kick some past and change their futures- one will find a new love life, one will learn to stand up for himself with the ladies, one will find his mojo, and one will make sure he still exists!

Former superhero Jack is called back to work to transform an unlikely group of ragtag kids into superheroes at a private academy. Former superhero Jack Shepard, also known as Captain Zoom, is called back to work to transform an unlikely group of ragtag kids into a new generation of superheroes. At a privacy academy, he trains Dylan, a 17-year-old boy who can turn invisible; Summer, a 16-year-old girl with telekinetic powers; Tucker, a 12-year-old boy with the power to enlarge any part of his body; and Cindy, a 6-year-old girl with super strength. —Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

An Italian woman flies across the Atlantic to New York City in search of her husband and finds him married to another woman. Now two wives, four children, and one husband must find a way to survive--together. An Italian female shoemaker follows her husband to America with their son and daughter. She can't find him at first, then finally she discovers that he is married to an American wife who is expecting. After some wrangling they manage to live under the same roof for some time. —Hesham Tito This hilarious romantic comedy stars the ever-popular Brooke Shields as Charlene, the American wife of Vincenzo, a struggling Italian artist who wants to make a name for himself in New York's cutting-edge art scene. Just one problem: He's already married. When Maria, Vincenzo's Italian wife, crosses the Atlantic with two her kids, she's less than thrilled to find her husband living with the very pregnant Charlene, whose fury matches anything Maria can dish out. The personal and cultural clashes between Vincenzo's two families make for an extremely tense environment, but they soon find themselves united against Paul Parmesan, a self-serving home-shopping magnate who tries to exploit both Maria and Charlene while lining his own pockets. Love takes a beating and comes back fighting in this unconventional comedy about a very unconventional family. —Anonymous

The film opens with talk about snow forming from crystallized water and explaining that a snow day isn't just when school's close, but a day of magic. We're then introduced to Tom Brandston (Chevy Chase) the local weatherman forced to wear a Hawaiian style outfit to promote the warm weather coming in. Tom isn't happy with his job as he works for a station that makes him use gimmicks on camera to improve their low ratings. We're next introduced to Tom's daughter Natalie (Zena Grey) as she hopes to get snow on what were told has been a unusually warm season. As she and her friends Chet (Jade Yorker) and Wayne (Josh Peck) throw snowballs leftover from last year (kept in a cooler) at their principal (Damian Young) a stick in the mud who's a prime target for snowballs during the winter. We're also introduced to Tom's son Hal (Mark Webber), who sits besides the high school pool area with his friends Lane (Schuyler Fisk) and Bill (J. Adam Brown). Hal has a crush on the local popular girl Claire (Emmanuelle Chriqui) as he tells us via voice over. He watches her dive and when sliding along the side of the pool, he falls in and finds her ankle bracelet at the pools bottom. The ankle bracelet containing a whale charm had fallen off when she was diving. Later Hal plans to return it to Claire, but is unable to when her loud jock boyfriend Chuck (David Paetkau) shows up, revealing that he and Claire are on the verge of ending their relationship. Natalie takes Hal's collectible action figures and attempts to play with them, but Hal takes them away from her, claiming he doesn't want her playing with them because he plans to sell them some day. At dinner with their father and younger energetic brother Randy (Connor Matheus), the kids wait for their mother Laura (Jean Smart) to come home, she does arrive, apologizing for being late as she is a workaholic. Later that night, Natalie shakes a snow globe her father has given her, claiming she wished it was that easy to get snow to appear. At the news station, Tom is getting ready to report sunshine all day, when he discovers a snow storm is coming in from his radar. Natalie awakens the next morning to find the entire area has been blanketed in several layers of snow. The radio then announces that all schools are officially closed and a snow day is in effect. Natalie is so excited and plans to use the magic of a snow day to take down her arch enemy, The Snowplowman (Chris Elliott) a local villain who is said to run over kids and plow the streets so efficiently that there has never been a second snow day in years. Natalie enlists Hal's help, but in light of hearing Claire has broken up with Chuck, Hal wants to use the magic of the snow day to return Claire's whale bracelet and profess his love to her. Laura attempts to leave for work, but finds she has been so severely snowed in; she cannot make it into work and must stay home with Randy. Principal Weaver attempts to clean his car off of the snow, but is overwhelmed by an army of kids who are throwing a barrage of snow balls at him. Weaver appears throughout the movie as a running gag, being chased by snow balls as they are pelted at him off screen. Lane meets up with Hal and upon hearing he plans to spend the day winning over Claire; she disapproves and proclaims that love is about finding someone you can stand to be around for more than ten minutes at a time. Hal insists and she follows him. Natalie meets up with Chet and Wayne at their igloo-style snow fort, but Snowplowman appears and after Natalie throws a snowball at him, he maliciously goes off road to plow over their snow fort. Hal and Lane go to Claire's house, where Hal plans to talk to her, but a parade of other suitors has gathered outside her house after hearing about her break up. Chuck arrives and clears them out, attempting to win Claire back. She initially turns the volume on her TV up to drown him out, but caves and lets him inside. Lane hears that the TV station Claire has on is the same one Hal's dad Tom works at, giving Hal an idea. With the record snow fall, Tom is forced to wear a snowman costume to report the weather and is pushed down a scary hill on a sled. With everyone distracted when Tom wipes out, Hal uses the opportunity to introduce himself to Claire on live TV. Recovering from his crash, Tom discovers his rival weatherman Chad (John Schneider) from another station is taking credit for discovering the night's snow storm first. Meanwhile Natalie has her friend Wayne pretend to be dead in the middle of the street, pouring ketchup on him as blood in order to trick Snowplowman. When he leaves the plow to investigate, Natalie sneaks in. She's attacked by his bird Trudy and ends up kidnapping the violent creature, Snowplowman retaliates by grabbing Wayne. Hal and Lane have followed Claire and Chuck to the local skating rink, where Lane distracts the rink's DJ (Iggy Pop) while Hal changes the usually boring music to something more upbeat, much to Chuck's dismay. Next Snowplowman drops by Natalie's house to talk to Laura claiming he's taking kids around in his plow and that she's next in line, claiming Wayne to be his last passenger when she spots him in the plow. When Laura is distracted by Randy, Snowplowman gets a call from Natalie who offers him an exchange, the bird for Wayne and a second snow day, he agrees. Hal's next plan involves Lane going to the local diner where she tells Claire how great a guy Hal is, retelling a story about him. Claire is convinced and follows Lane to the local football field where Hal has carved a giant whale in the snow. Chuck shows up and Hal steals one of his snowmobiles and a chase ensues, Hal gets away. The prisoners are exchanged, but even with his bird back, Snowplowman appears to not be a man of his word as he leaves in his plow back on route to plow the snow. Laura chases after Randy when he escapes outside to play in the snow. Initially she's angry but after Randy throws snowballs at her, she retaliates and finds herself having fun. Natalie is about to give up, but after she imagines what her brother's action figures would tell her if they came to life, she rediscovers her determination for a second snow day. Hal meets up with Lane, but after he shows no signs of giving up, she gets angry admitting she hasn't done what she wants to do for the snow day, when Hal asks what she wants to do, she kisses him and leaves. Tom is reporting on the snow as Old Man Winter, but when his rival Chad appears, Tom proves him a fraud when he's unable to answer basic meteorology questions on air, proving he discovered the storm first. Hal meets up with Claire at the school's pool and she kisses him, but Hal realizes that he was wrong and that he has stronger feelings for Lane. Claire understands. Snowplowman continues to plow the streets, but at the last road, Natalie appears to challenge him. He taunts her but she reveals an army of kids have gathered together to stop him. The kids tie him to a street sign and take his plow to un-plow the snow back onto the roads. Hal journeys to find Lane (dressed in Bill's cloths for some reason) but is attacked by Chuck. A fight ensues, but Hal is saved when Natalie and friends plow Chuck away into a snow bank with the snow plow. Hal is impressed and tells Natalie she can keep his action figures and that he wants to spend the soon to be second snow day with her. They part ways as Hal finds Lane at the local skating rink. Hal apologizes to Lane repeating her line about true love being about finding someone you can stand to be around for ten minutes, and then asks "You got ten minutes?" They kiss. Hal narrates as he recaps everyone's journey throughout the day and the film ends with Principal Weaver making it home, only to find another volley of snowballs come at him from inside his house.

Set in a small Midwest U.S. town, Mitch Weaver and his best friend Sam McKenna are two social misfits who "don't take crap from anyone", as Sam's father, Pops McKenna (Jack Warden) taught them. While in school as young kids, they get a bully arrested for (planted) gun possession, and catch a crossing guard/pedophine kiddie-fondler in the act (with glue). As a teenager, Mitch's single mother dies and he moves in with Sam and his father Pops. Mitch and Sam get revenge against a spiteful meter maid by planting popcorn kernels in her car radiator, and they get revenge against a neighborhood dog that chases them to having them get a homosexual German Shepherd dog to have it's way with the dog that attacks them. (Note: gay and homophobic jokes are the recurring theme throughout the movie.) The film then cuts to their adult lives. After losing 14 jobs in three months and getting dumped by his girlfriend, Mitch (Norm MacDonald as an adult) moves in with Sam (Artie Lange as an adult) and Pops. As grownups in their early 30s, Mitch and Sam still "don't take crap from anyone" when after they get beaten up and humiliated by a group of college frat guys at their local hangout bar, the guys set up the frat guys to get arrested for fighting with the police. A little later, Pops is rushed to the hospital when he has a heart attack. Even though his heart is failing and needs a transplant, the gambling-addicted Dr. Farthing (Chevy Chase) tells Mitch and Sam that he will only raise Pops on the transplant list if he is paid an under-the-table bribe of $50,000 in three weeks. To raise the money, Mitch and Sam try to get jobs any way they can from a failed construction site job, to being payed to sample hallougenic brownies. Mitch and Sam get jobs in a movie theater with an abusive manager named Mr. Hamilton (Don Rickles), who mocks and pokes fun of the slow-witted and overweight Sam, and the wise-cracking Mitch. The guys exact their revenge by showing a premier film of "Men In Black (Who Like To Have Sex With Each Other)" a gay porn film parody to a packed house. The other workers congratulate them and tell them they should open their own business. Mitch and Sam open "Dirty Work", a revenge-for-hire business. They exact increasingly lucrative reprisals for satisfied customers until they interfere with unscrupulous local property developer Travis Cole (Christopher McDonald). Cole tricks them into destroying "his" apartment building, promising to pay them enough to save Pops. Afterwards, Cole reneges, revealing that he is not the owner. However, the grandmother of Mitch's new girlfriend Kathy (Traylor Howard) lives there. Unknown to Cole, Mitch's "note to self" tape recorder captures this confession. Mitch and Sam plot their revenge on Cole, using the tape to set up an elaborate trap. Using skunks, an army of prostitutes, homeless men, a nose-less friend, the brownies with hallucinogenic additives, and Sam's father, they ruin the opening night of an opera sponsored prominently by Cole. With the media present, Mitch plays back Cole's confession over the theater's sound system. Cole sees that his public image is being tarnished and agrees to pay the $50,000. In the end, Cole is punched in the stomach, arrested and jailed, his dog is raped by a skunk, and Mitch gets the girl. Pop's gets his heart transplant and lives, while Dr. Farthing overcomes his gambling habit, but is said to have been murdered by his angry bookies anyway.

Following the approval of the food preservative he helped create that keeps perishable goods fresh for years, Clark Griswold receives the bonus that Frank Shirley promised him in the last movie. He tells his family that he and his wife Ellen are going on vacation to celebrate and reaffirm their vows. Clark's announcement that they are going to Las Vegas, however, dampens the excitement. Las Vegas is not known for being a family-friendly place, so Ellen and her teenage daughter Audrey are hesitant, but their teenage son Rusty seems more excited. When the Griswolds first arrive in Vegas, they visit Cousin Eddie, the husband of Ellen's cousin Catherine, and go to a Siegfried & Roy show. Eddie now resides with his family on a former hydrogen bomb test site in the desert north of Las Vegas. Clark is separated from the group during a guided tour of the Hoover Dam by Arty after he unintentionally causes a leak in the interior walkways and must scale the scaffolding to the top of the dam in order to escape. The following evening, they discover to their surprise that a dress for Ellen and tickets to a Wayne Newton concert have been delivered to their hotel room. They discover that Newton sent the dress when they arrive at the concert. As he sings, he visits their table and invites Ellen to join him on stage. The following day, the family consents to a "alone day" and is left on their own. Following his visit to a casino, Clark develops a gambling addiction. Rusty becomes a successful high roller after purchasing a phony ID from a Frank Sinatra impersonator. Vicki, Eddie's free-spirited exotic dancer daughter, and her friends begin to hang out with Audrey. Wayne Newton, who is attracted to Ellen, spends time with her. When Clark gambles away the family's $22,600 bank account, Ellen becomes enraged and the children leave him. Audrey and Vicki visit a strip club and Audrey secures a job as a go-go dancer, while Rusty wins four cars from four different slot machines. Since the Griswolds have helped Clark and his family so much, Eddie, who has money buried in his front yard, tries to help him. When Clark and Eddie visit a casino to retrieve their money, Clark also gambles away Eddie's money. Afterwards, he understands that he must get his family back and no longer cares about getting his money back. Clark brings his family together from the Vegas area, and they play keno to spend their final two dollars. They are seated next to an elderly man who tells Clark how happy he is with his family and suggests that he has always been lonely. In a show of compassion, Clark advises the man to spend the night with the Griswold family. The game starts after the man gladly accepts Clark's offer. Initially hopeful, the Griswolds sit in silence as they come to terms with their defeat. The man next to them abruptly announces that he has won the game. While Ellen sends Rusty for assistance, he drifts in and out of consciousness in his emotional outburst. He survives long enough to speak to Clark in a whisper. According to Clark, who is perplexed, the man said, "Take the ticket." The man is declared dead by the paramedics and casino security officers upon their arrival. Mr. Ellis was his name, and they tell the Griswolds that he would have done anything for a friend. In front of Eddie's relatives, Clark and Ellen exchange vows of marriage after winning a lot of money. In return for his generosity, Clark then gives Eddie $5,000. Rusty won four cars from the slot machines: a white Ford Aspire, a black Hummer H1, a maroon Ford Mustang, and a red Dodge Viper. The Griswolds drive home in these vehicles.

A counterfeiter with a habit of "eliminating" the competition moves in next door to the Robbersons. Two cops move in with the Robbersons for a stakeout. When police discover that a mob hitman has moved in next door to the Robbersons, they want to find out what he is up to. So they set up a stakeout in the Robbersons' home. Hard-nosed, tough-as-nails Jake Stone is assigned to the stakeout. But now it's a question of whether Jake can last long enough to capture the bad guys. The Robbersons want to help so they are driving him crazy.

The Griswold family's plans for a big family Christmas predictably turn into a big disaster. It's Christmas time and the Griswolds are preparing a big family celebration, but things never run smoothly for Clark, his wife Ellen and their two kids. Clark's perennial bad luck is aggravated by his obnoxious family guests, but he manages to keep going knowing that his Christmas bonus is due soon. —Rob Hartill / edited by Hans Delbruck Clark Wilhelm Griswold wants to have a special "Griswold Family Christmas", and after months of careful planning he invites both of his parents, both of his wife, Ellen's parents even his uncle Louis and his senile aunt Bethany. Clark even prepares his house for Christmas with over 20,000 lights and a tree. As Christmas eve comes, Clark will soon realize that a series of unfortunate events will start to unravel for him. Can Clark keep it together and understand the true meaning of Christmas? —John Wiggins After the colossal blunders in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) and National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), well-meaning Clark Griswold wants to have a good old-fashioned Christmas. But it takes more than good intentions to organise the ideal holiday. And this year, Clark will have to work twice as hard to create the perfect illusion. After all, no one can work miracles when unsophisticated relatives crash your party, monumentally defective electronics threaten to blow the house to smithereens, and a cinematic brush with the law jeopardises the celebration. Perhaps one thing can save the day: the Griswolds must work together. But how hard can it be to get into the spirit and host the most memorable Christmas vacation? —Nick Riganas

A couple swap city life for the country, but their picturesque new hometown turns out to be just a little bit different to what they were expecting. When Andy and Elizabeth buy a farm in Vermont, they can't imagine the trouble that awaits them. Andy has quit his job as a sports journalist and is planning to use the peace and quiet of the country to write the Great American Novel. From the moment the movers' truck gets lost with their furniture, though, there's little peace and less quiet. From a manical mailman to a dead body buried in the garden, Andy is distracted by the town and its wacky inhabitants. His effort at a novel is mediocre, at best, and he's threatened by Elizabeth's foray into writing when she attempts a children's book. Can the Farmers survive the townsfolk and each other? —Rick Munoz <rick.munoz@his.com> Andy and Elizabeth are sick of life in the city, and decide to move to the country. Buying a home near a picturesque town, then soon discover (to their horror) that things are done differently in the country. They must deal with all of the local characters, the local animals, as well as any skeletons in the closet. —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

In 1916, the notorious bandit El Guapo (Alfonso Arau) and his gang of thugs are collecting protection money from the small Mexican village of Santo Poco. Carmen (Patrice Martinez), daughter of the village leader, searches for someone who can come to the rescue of her townspeople. She goes to a town bar looking for sharpshooters who can help her against El Guapo. But nobody is willing to step up. One shooter steps forward, but he wants sexual favors from Carmen in exchange for his help. While visiting a small village church, she remains to watch a silent film featuring "The Three Amigos" and how they team up to save a Mexican village from the oppression of bandits. Lucky is an expert with the lasso, Ned is a gunslinger, and Dusty is fast with knives. In the film, they refuse payment from the villagers, rather saying that justice is their reward. Carmen finds the address of the Three Amigos, from the wagon that was transporting the film reel across Mexico. Believing them to be real heroes, Carmen sends a telegram to Hollywood asking them to come and stop El Guapo, in exchange for 100,000 Pesos. However, the telegraph operator edits her message down since she has very little money to pay for it. The message reads "You are Great. 100,000 Pesos to come to Santo Poco and put on a show. Stop the infamous El Guapo". Meanwhile, Lucky Day (Steve Martin), Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) are Hollywood silent film actors who portray the heroic Amigos on screen. When they demand a salary increase, studio boss Harry Flugleman (Joe Mantegna) fires them. He has them evicted from the studio mansion, banned from his lot, and the clothes they borrowed from the wardrobe repossessed. Shortly afterward, they receive Carmen's telegram but misinterpret it as an invitation to make a film with El Guapo (they misunderstand the word "infamous" and believe that infamous is when a person becomes more than just famous and reckon El Guapo is a big movie star in Mexico). After breaking into the studio to retrieve their costumes, the Amigos head for Mexico. At a cantina near Santa Poco, a German pilot inquires about El Guapo and demands respect for his friends who will arrive soon. The German is a fast draw and shoots anyone who aims a gun at him. Stopping at the cantina near Santo Poco, the Amigos are mistaken for associates of a fast-shooting German pilot (Kai Wulff), who is also looking for El Guapo and who arrived just before they did. They mistake the fearful patrons for starstruck fans and perform a cheerful song-and-dance ("My Little Buttercup"). After they leave, the German's associates arrive and shoot up the cantina when the off-guard patrons mock their fine clothes. A relieved Carmen picks up the Amigos and takes them to the village, where they are put up in the best house in town and treated very well. The next morning, when three of El Guapo's men come to raid the village, the Amigos do a Hollywood-style stunt show that leaves them very confused. The bandits ride off, making everyone think that the Amigos have defeated the enemy. The village throws a boisterous celebration for the Amigos and their (supposed) victory. In reality, the men inform El Guapo of what has happened, and he decides to return in force the next day and kill the Amigos. The next morning, El Guapo and his gang come to Santo Poco and call out the Amigos. But they think it's another show. After Lucky is shot, they realize they are confronting real bandits and beg for mercy. The Amigos confess that they have only been acting and are too scared to confront him after Lucky gets shot in the arm. El Guapo allows his men to loot the village, kidnaps Carmen, and the Amigos leave Santo Poco in disgrace. With nothing waiting for them back home, Ned persuades Lucky and Dusty to become real-life heroes and go after El Guapo. Their first attempt to find his hideout fails. They try summoning a magical swordsman to locate El Guapo, but Dusty botches the ritual and shoots the swordsman. Then they spot a cargo plane and follow it to him. The plane is flown by the German, who has brought a shipment of rifles for the gang with his associates' help. Preparations are underway for El Guapo's 40th birthday party, and he plans to make Carmen his bride. The Amigos try to sneak into the hideout, with mixed results. Lucky is captured and chained up in a dungeon, Dusty crashes through a window and into Carmen's room, and Ned ends up stuck in the pinata. As Lucky frees himself and Dusty sneaks out only to be caught, Ned falls loose and is also captured. The German, having idolized Ned's quick-draw and gun-spinning pistol skills since childhood, challenges him to a shootout. Ned wins, killing the German, and Lucky holds El Guapo at gunpoint long enough for Carmen and the Amigos to escape - first on horseback, then in the German's plane. Returning to Santo Poco with El Guapo's entire army in pursuit, they rally the villagers to stand up for themselves and plan a defense. The bandits arrive in the seemingly empty village, only to find themselves suddenly being shot at by Amigos from all sides and falling into hidden water-filled trenches dug by the villagers. Eventually all of El Guapo's men either desert him or die in the gunfire, and he takes a fatal wound as well. As he lies dying, the villagers - all armed and wearing replicas of the Amigos' costumes - step out to confront him. El Guapo congratulates them on their plan, then shoots Lucky in the foot before dying. The villagers offer to give the Amigos all the money they have, but the Amigos refuse it, saying (as in their movies) that seeing justice done is enough of a reward for them. They then ride off into the sunset, ready to continue being real heroes.

Two complete misfits who aspire to spy for the CIA meet each other. Much to their surprise, they are trained and sent to Central Asia - but no one expects them to survive.

Los Angeles Times reporter Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher is writing an article exposing drug trafficking on the beach, where he suspects food vendor Fat Sam (George Wendt) of distributing heroin from his shack. Posing as a homeless addict during his investigation, he is approached by Alan Stanwyk, who mistakenly assumes Fletch is a junkie. Offering Fletch $1,000 just to hear out his proposal, Stanwyk takes him to his luxury mansion in Beverly Hills, where he formally introduces himself and says that he works for Boyd Aviation as the executive vice president. Stanwyk claims to have bone cancer, with only months left to live, and wishes to avoid the pain and suffering. Stanwyk offers $50,000 for Fletch to come to his mansion in a few days time, kill him, and then escape to Rio de Janeiro, staging the murder to appear as the result of a burglary. Fletch is suspicious, but ostensibly agrees to the plan. Along with his colleague Louisa Larry, Fletch begins investigating Stanwyk instead of completing his drug trafficking exposé, much to the dismay of his impatient boss/chief editor Frank Walker. The next day, Fletch endures a rectal exam from Stanwyk's doctor, Dr. Dolan, in a failed attempt to talk Dolan into divulging medical information about Stanwyk. Later that same day, disguised as a doctor, Fletch accesses Stanwyk's file in the hospital's records room and learns Stanwyk lied to him about having cancer. Fletch visits Stanwyk's wife Gail at her tennis club and, pretending to be a friend of her husband's, flirts with her during an impromptu tennis lesson, but does not uncover very much from her and leaves. Next, Fletch poses as an FCC agent while he visits Gail's father, Stanton Boyd, the head of Boyd Aviation to inquire about Stanwyk's finances. Fletch finds that Gail recently converted $3 million of her personal stock in Boyd Aviation into cash for her husband to buy a ranch in Provo, Utah. Fletch returns to his apartment for the day and finds that his ex-wife's lawyer, now-husband Marvin Gillet is waiting for him to collect unpaid alimony. Fletch gives Gillet the $1,000 cash bribe money that Stanwyk gave him earlier to make him leave. After having a cold beer, Fletch goes to sleep and has a dream of being a major league basketball player playing for the Lakers and scoring a hoop. The next day, while undercover at the beach, he discovers one of Fat Sam's customers, Gummy, running away from a patrolling squad car. Fletch tries to intervene when the cops catch Gummy and beat him up, but Fletch gets kicked in the groin by one of the cops and they haul Gummy away in the car. Fletch retaliates by throwing a rock through the car's back windshield, but the car keeps going. A few days later, Fletch travels to Provo, where he breaks into a realtor's office and discovers the deed lists the sale price as only $3,000. He barely escapes from the office while being chased around by a guard dog. Meanwhile, LAPD Chief Jerry Karlin gets wind of Fletch's soon-to-be-published drug article. He sends two thuggish detectives to Fletch's apartment and arrest him after they plant heroin on him. The two take Fletch to meet with Karlin, who tells Fletch he is jeopardizing the lives of undercover cops he's planted on the beach to bust the drug trade. When Fletch insults Karlin, he takes Fletch to an empty jail cell and threatens to shoot Fletch and place a switchblade in his dead hand to claim self-defense. Fletch tells Karlin he is going to work on another story about off-track betting in the Himalayas instead. An amused Karlin then lets Fletch go. Fletch finds out that Karlin had him arrested because of Fletch's boss, who wants Fletch to stop investigating what he considers a ludicrous story about drug-dealing cops. When Fletch confronts his boss about the incident, Frank refuses to believe Fletch's story about Karlin's plan to kill him. Fletch storms off, angry but more determined than ever to break the story. Disguised as a redneck airplane mechanic, Fletch shows up at Stanwyk's plane hangar and learns from two mechanics that Stanwyk has been using the plane each weekend to go to Utah, but uses as much fuel as if he traveled to South America. Back at the tennis club, Fletch meets Gail at her cabana. He treats her to an expensive lunch which he charges to the credit account of a snooty and obnoxious club member, Ted Underhill. Fletch gives her a little information about the investigation but has to flee when Mr. Underhill shows up at Gail's door, demanding the several hundred dollars the lunch had cost. Fletch spies on Stanwyk making a suspicious briefcase exchange with Chief Karlin, but is unable to determine the nature of their relationship. He returns home to find two squad cars in his building's parking garage and flees, managing to avoid capture after a harrowing car chase when Fletch steals an Alfa Romeo from a young car thief. He manages to stay ahead of them and is only able to shake them when he distracts them all at a lodge club dinner. Fletch returns to Provo and, under the guise of an insurance investigator, interviews Stanwyk's parents. Fletch discovers Stanwyk has been secretly married to another woman for eight years, having used Gail for her money. He returns to Beverly Hills and shares what he has found with her, who is very upset about her husband's bigamy. Fletch arrives at Stanwyk's mansion on the night of the plotted murder only to find Stanwyk armed and ready to kill Fletch instead. He reveals he is aware of Stanwyk's real plan to fake his own death by killing Fletch, burning his body, and dressing like Fletch himself. Stanwyk would then escape to Brazil with his other wife, as well as Gail's $3 million. Stanwyk was also using his private jet to smuggle cocaine from South America to supply Karlin, who unexpectedly shows up and, upon learning of Stanwyk's intentions to flee with $800,000 of Karlin's drug money, kills Stanwyk. Karlin then turns the gun on Fletch but is knocked unconscious by Gail with a tennis racket. Some time later, Karlin is indicted for Stanwyk's murder, due to Fletch's investigation. He begins dating Gail and, in the final scene, takes her on a vacation to Rio. Fletch jokes that he had placed the expenses for the vacation on Underhill's credit account and offers the audience the number.

Clark W. Griswald (Chevy Chase), his wife, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), and their teenage children, Audrey (Dana Hill) and Rusty (Jason Livey), are contestants on a TV game show called "A Pig In A Poke." After facing off against the eccentric and intellectual Froeger family, the Griswald's win the show's grand prize: a two-week, all-expense-paid European vacation. During a cookout the next day, Audrey does not want to leave her boy friend, Jack, behind. Before they leave, Clark videotapes a provocative striptease performed by his wife. On the plane to London, England, Ellen dreams that she meets Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana, Audrey has a nightmare of gaining weight from the rich European cuisine, and Rusty dreams of beautiful women fawning over him. Clark dreams of spending time with his family in the Bavarian Alps. Arriving in London, they follow the itinerary provided by the game show, which promises luxury accommodations. However, their hotel room is not up to par. Clark has trouble driving on the opposite side of the road, gets into three car accidents, hitting one man on a bicycle (Eric Idle), and is stuck driving for hours in a roundabout. Sometime later, they take a drive in the countryside and visit Stonehenge, and Clark reverses his car into the rock installations, knocking them over like dominoes, as he drives away. Next, the Griswald's arrive in Paris, France, and a local man steals Clark's video camera after he offers to take a family photograph. Clark buys everyone berets with their names on them. They have lunch at a local cafe where the waiter insults them in French, knowing that they are tourists and cannot understand the French language. During the day, The family visits the Eiffel Tower. Later, they race through the Louvre museum in 15 minutes, and Ellen pleads with Clark to slow down their tour. Audrey is distraught when she receives a break-up letter from Jack. The family drives to Germany to visit Clark's distant relatives, Fritz and Helga. They arrive at the wrong home, however, and fail to realize the elderly couple are not Fritz and Helga. The German couple do not speak English, but welcome the Griswalds to dinner, and allow them to spend the night. The family leaves the next day, thinking they had a nice visit with their family. At a German festival, Rusty meets a local girl named Claudia (Claudia Neidig). After kissing her, she shows him her breasts. Elsewhere, Clark wears a Bavarian costume and joins performers on stage where he participates in a traditional dance. Clark accidentally incites a riot, and the family flees as an angry mob pursues. They board a train for Rome, Italy, but lose their luggage in the process. Meanwhile, two criminals hold up a Rome traveler's check office, and tie-up the shopkeeper. When Clark arrives to reclaim his lost traveler's checks, the lead criminal (Victor Lanoux) pretend they work in the shop, and give him three times the amount he lost. Additionally, they provide him with a rental car, in which they have hidden the shopkeeper in the trunk. The thieves secretly follow the Griswalds around Rome. The family buys extravagant Italian clothes, and later, the teens demand some time away from their parents. Ellen sees a billboard with a suggestive photograph of her on it, and realizes it came from the stolen video camera. She is furious with Clark for not erasing the provocative videotape as promised. The family goes their separate ways, and the criminals follow Ellen, who drives off with the hostage in the trunk. Elsewhere, Rusty meets an American girl (Moon Zappa) and flirts with her, while Audrey attempts to purchase a ticket home to salvage her relationship with Jack. Meanwhile, Ellen proceeds to get drunk at the hotel bar, and is joined by the lead thief, whom she recognizes from the travelers check shop. Believing him to be the shopkeeper, she regales him with her marital woes. When she goes to her hotel room, the man follows, and tries to seduce her. Ellen fights him off, and picks up the telephone to call police, but he holds a gun to her head and kidnaps her. As the thief escorts her out of the hotel, Ellen sees her daughter in the lobby, and throws her the keys to the car. Audrey realizes something is amiss, and when her father arrives, they chase Ellen and her kidnapper. Clark and Audrey race through the streets of Rome. As Clark crashes along the narrow streets, he sees Rusty and his new girl friend, who get into the automobile. When he gets a flat tire, Clark opens the truck and finds the bound shopkeeper inside. In mid-pursuit, Clark takes a nearby bicycle and chases after Ellen. He jumps into the convertible and the kidnapper crashes into a fountain. The thief is arrested, Ellen embraces Clark, and the Griswalds happily return to America. But in the final scene as the plane arrives over New York City, Clark accidentally stumbles into the cockpit and knocks the pilot down which the plane nose dives and knocks the torch of the Statue of Liberty over.

Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) is a food processing salesman living in Chicago, Illinois who wants to spend more time with wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and his teen children Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and Audrey (Dana Barron). So, he decides to lead the family on a cross-country expedition from Chicago to the Los Angeles amusement park, "Walley World", billed as "America's Favorite Family Fun Park". In the opening scene, Clark and Rusty drive to a local car dealer lot where he decides to purchase a new sports wagon for the cross-country drive. But the conniving salesman Ed (Eugene Levy), tells him that the car he ordered never arrived and scams Clark into taking in its place a more gas-guzzling, technically failing, behemoth station wagon called the Wagon Queen Family Truckster. Clark refuses to be conned, but after his old station wagon, a 1970 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, is "accidentally" crushed by a compacter machine, Clark is left with no choice but to take the Family Truckster. At home, although Ellen tells Clark that she wants to fly to California for their two-week vacation, he insists on driving, so he can bond with his family. The next day, the family packs into their new car for the long drive to California, only to have all their luggage strapped to the top of the station wagon fall off after they back out of the garage... a bad omen of things to come. During the first day's drive, Clark and Ellen try to ease the boredom by singing old folk songs including the so-called Wally World National Anthem. Rusty and Audrey take their escape by listening to their radio Walkman's of their favorite rock group The Ramones. While stopping for gas, Clark cannot find the gas tank opening, and accidentally tears off the station wagon's license plate searching for it. Later that same day, the family arrives in St. Louis, Missouri, but after crossing the Mississippi River into the city, they get lost and end up in a rough ghetto area where some local street hoodlums steal their hubcaps and spray paint graffiti on one side of their car while giving them sham directions back to the local expressway. While driving late at night on the interstate west of St. Louis, all of the family falls asleep... including Clark driving in which their car exits the road and roars through a residential neighborhood, tearing up several yards, before stopping for the night at a local motel. Clark has planned a romantic evening at the motel with Ellen with wine and quarters for the vibrating mattress, but the mattress is loud and starts bouncing wildly. Clark pulls blankets onto the floor and they crawl under the covers, ready for sex. The kids rush in from the connecting room to investigate the noise. Rusty unplugs the bed before the kids go back to their room. On the second day of the vacation (Day 2), the family arrives in Dodge City, Kansas without further incident where Clark falls victim to another tourist trap when he insults the local bartender at a Western-themed tavern, and gets shot with a round of blanks. Back on the road, Clark is tempted by a hot young woman (Christie Brinkley) driving a flashy red 1983 Ferrari 308 GTS, with a California license place that reads LUV ME. That afternoon, the Griswolds arrive at a farm outside of Coolidge, Kansas to visit Ellen's cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn) and her eccentric husband Eddie Johnston (Randy Quaid), and their five kids, plus one on the way, creating more tension among the Griswolds. Catherine and Eddie foist crotchety old Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and her vicious dog, Dinky, on the Griswolds, asking them to drop her off at her son Normy's home in Phoenix, Arizona. Eddie also asks for a loan of $500 to help him out with numerous debits he owns the local bank and many bill collectors. The kids have better experiences with Eddie and Catherine's eldest kids. Cousin Vicki (Jane Krakowski) shows Audrey her secret pot stash, while Cousin Dale (John Navin) shows Rusty his secret porn magazine collection. The next day (Day 3), the Griswolds along with Aunt Edna and Dinky drive off. During a picnic stop in Colorado, Clark has another encounter with the young woman in the red Ferrari whom is parked and dancing to pop music. The Griswolds stop for the night in a run-down, dirty campground in South Fork, Colorado where they survive another tourist trap for the night as well as deal with Edna's vicious dog. The next day (Day 4), the Griswolds and Aunt Edna pack up and leave the campground for Arizona. But while packing the car, Clark forgets to untie the nasty Dinky from the car's rear bumper before leaving. Clark does not realize his error until he is pulled over by a local motorcycle cop (James Keach) to angrily inform him of his mistake that has led to the apparent death of the dog. Nevertheless, the policeman, overcome by his own memory of his childhood dog, allows Clark to proceed on his way. During the drive, Clark again sees the young woman driving the red Ferrari while everyone else is asleep. Tempted to keep speed with her, Clark accelerates & almost has an accident. Subsequently, one of the suitcases falls off the car, which contains all of Ellen's credit cards. The next day (Day 5), the family gets lost on a back road somewhere between Utah and Arizona where while Clark and Ellen argue, they accidentally drive off the road, missing a large roadblock and get into an accident, damaging the Wagon Queen Family Truckster and stranding them near Monument Valley. Clark hikes off into the desert and spends many hours wondering aimlessly in the hot and arid desert until he finds a gas station... only to find the family there after they were rescued by some local Indians whom had a camel to tow their car to the very station. After making some half-hearted repairs, the lead redneck mechanic (Mickey Jones), who also happens to be the local sheriff, intimidates/scams Clark out of all the money he has on him (over $500 for the repairs). But they manage to get to the Grand Canyon Village to check in for the night. The next day (Day 6), the frustrated Clark realizes that in reporting Ellen's lost credit cards to their hometown bank, the bank had frozen Clark's credit cards by accident and Clark cannot convince the stuffy hotel manager (James Staley) to take a $1,000 personal check to pay for their rooms for the night. With the hotel manager distracted for a few minutes when he has to answer a ringing telephone, Clark steals all the cash in the hotel's cash register, leaves behind the $1,000 check, and flees the hotel like a Wild West bank robber, grabs the family away from the scenic sight of the Grand Canyon, and speeds away. Continuing through Arizona, they find that Aunt Edna passed away in her sleep. With little options, they decide to drive to Phoenix anyway and deliver her to her son Normy's house (with the dead Aunt Edna tied to the roof of their car). When they reach Normy's home that evening in a raging thunderstorm, they discover he is out of town, and leave Edna's rigor mortised body on a lawn chair in the backyard, over Ellen's objections. Clark concedes to Ellen's request they say a prayer for the dear departed Edna. Despite all the events and the begging of Ellen and the kids, Clark is more determined than ever to get to Walley World. They check into a motel for the night where after another argument with Ellen, Clark hangs out at the motel's bar where he has a face-to-face-encounter with the beautiful young woman from the red Ferrari and they make small talk about things. The woman beckons Clark to go skinny dipping with her in the motel's swimming pool, but upon diving in, Clark screams over his reaction to the cold pool water... thus waking up the entire motel, including Ellen, Rusty, and Audrey. When the woman takes her leave, Clark goes back to apologize to Ellen who demands that Clark repay the favor by taking him back to the pool to skinny dip with her. The next day (Day 7), the family finally arrives in Los Angeles, California and arrives at Wally World... only to find that the park is closed for the next two weeks for repairs. Clark, slipping into madness seeing all the week's struggles had been for nothing, buys a realistic-looking BB gun from a local sporting goods store, returns to Wally World, and demands to a overweight and geekish park security guard named Russ Lasky (John Candy) to take them through the park; Ellen and kids follow him, attempting to placate their father. Eventually an LAPD SWAT team arrives along with park owner Roy Walley (Eddie Bracken) and they arrest the whole family. Clark manages to talk to Roy who surprisingly understands Clark's impassioned epitome of the American Vacation, describing his own memory of a less-than-enjoyable cross-country trip he took with his own family to Florida. Roy does not file charges against the Griswolds, and lets the family enjoy the park as his guests, along with the police and SWAT team who are seen riding on the park's top roller coaster attraction in the final shot of the movie. The end credits show various still photographs of the Griswolds enjoying the rest of the vacation at all the various stops they made over the course of the movie, including a final frame of them returning to Chicago via plane... having abandoned their gas-guzzling car in California.

Wrongfully accused of a bank robbery, a writer seeks the help of his ex-wife, who is now married to the soon-to-be Attorney General of California. Writer Nick Gardenia is kidnapped from his California cliffhouse and forced to rob a bank. Now a fugitive, he seeks help from his ex, Glenda. She is a public defender remarried to a prosecutor, and we get a houseful of hijinks. —<rth@ece.arizona.edu> Glenda Parks is a bleeding heart liberal lawyer, who believes she can be a major part in the redemption of her down and out minor criminal clients by employing them to do odd jobs for her. Her husband, Ira Parks, is the Los Angeles District Attorney who has just found out that he is in the running to become the state Attorney General. A major obstacle in him getting this position is that Glenda's first husband, non-fiction writer Nicholas Gardenia, was caught clearly on a video surveillance camera as being the perpetrator of a bank robbery in Carmel. In reality, Nick was abducted at gunpoint by the true bank robbers who forced him to be their front man. Nick is hesitant about turning himself in as he was previously wrongly imprisoned for two years in Mexico while he was working on an illegal alien story, prison where he does not want to go back. As such, he turns to the only person he believes can and will help him, namely Glenda. Glenda has mixed emotions about Nick reentering her life. Her head wants to hide Nick from Ira and get him out of their Brentwood house for good as quickly as possible, especially as a lot of powerful and authoritarian figures are mulling around the house, but her heart wants to help Nick much like she helps her clients and the many stray dogs that have entered the Parks' lives. Nick, on the other hand, tries somewhat to clear his name, but he seems more interested in reuniting with Glenda who he still loves and who he believes still loves him. —Huggo Nick Gardenia is a writer and was at home working when two men knocked on his door and pulled a gun on him. They make him drive them to a bank and rob it. The surveillance cameras catch him. Eventually it is sent to the D.A.'s office and the D.A., Ira Parks recognizes him as his wife's ex-husband. When he tells his wife, Glenda, about it she doesn't believe it. The guys who grabbed Nick throw him out of the car and he makes his way to Glenda and asks for her help. —rcs0411@yahoo.com

Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) is an underacheving 17-year-old guy who works as a caddy at the upscale Bushwood Country Club in Beverly Hills to earn enough money to go to college. Danny often caddies for Ty Webb (Chevy Chase), a suave and talented golfer and the son of one of Bushwood's co-founders. Danny decides to gain favor with Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight), the country club's stodgy co-founder and director of the caddy scholarship program, by caddying for him. Meanwhile, Carl Spackler (Bill Murray), one of the dim-witted greenskeepers, is entrusted with combating a potentially disastrous gopher infestation. Throughout the film, he tries a variety of methods to kill the gopher (e.g. shooting, drowning) without success. Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield), a brash and obnoxious nouveau riche real estate developer, begins appearing at the club. Smails is heckled by Czervik as he tees off, causing his shot to go badly wrong. Smails throws a putter away in frustration and accidentally injures a member of the club. Danny takes responsibility for the incident, as a ploy to gain Smails' trust. Smails encourages him to apply for the caddy scholarship. At Bushwood's annual Fourth of July banquet, Danny and his girlfriend Maggie (Sarah Holcomb) work as servers. Czervik continues to irritate Smails and the club members, while Danny becomes attracted to Lacey Underall (Cindy Morgan), Smails' promiscuous niece. Danny wins the Caddy Day golf tournament and the scholarship, earning him praise from Smails and an invitation to attend the christening ceremony for his boat. The boat is sunk at the event after a collision with Czervik's larger boat. On returning, Smails discovers Lacey and Danny having a tryst at his house. Expecting to be fired or to have the scholarship revoked, Danny is surprised when Smails only demands that he keeps the incident secret. Unable to bear the continued presence of the crude-mannered Czervik, Smails confronts him and announces that Czervik will never be granted membership. Czervik counters by announcing that he would never consider being a member: he insults the place and is merely there to evaluate buying Bushwood and developing the land into condominiums. After a brief scuffle and exchange of insults, Ty Webb suggests they discuss a resolution over drinks. After Smails demands satisfaction, Czervik proposes a team golf match with Smails and his regular golfing partner Dr. Beeper (Dan Resin) against Czervik and Webb. Against club rules, they also agree to a $20,000 wager, quickly doubled to $40,000, on the outcome of the match. That evening, Webb practices for the game against Smails and meets Carl, where the two share a bottle of wine and a joint. The golf match is held the following day. Word spreads of the stakes involved and a crowd builds. During the game, Smails and Beeper take the lead, while Czervik, to his dismay, is "playing the worst game of his life". He reacts to Smails' taunts by impulsively redoubling the wager to $80,000 per team. When his own ricocheting ball strikes him, Czervik feigns injury in hopes of having the contest declared a draw. Lou, the course official who is acting as an umpire, tells Czervik his team will forfeit unless they find a substitute. When Webb chooses Danny, Smails threatens to revoke his scholarship, but Czervik promises Danny that he will make it "worth his while" if he wins. Danny eventually decides he would rather humiliate the selfish, conceited Smails than take the scholarship. By the time they reach the final hole, the score is tied. At the climax of the game, with Danny about to attempt a difficult putt to win, Czervik again redoubles the wager to $160,000 per team. Danny's putt leaves the ball hanging over the edge of the hole. At that moment, Carl, in his latest attempt to kill the gopher, detonates a series of plastic explosives that he has rigged around the golf course. The explosion shakes the ground and causes the ball to drop into the hole, handing Danny, Webb, and Czervik the victory. Smails refuses to pay, so Czervik beckons two hulking men, named Moose and Roco, to "help the judge find his checkbook." As Smails is chased around the course, Czervik leads another wild party attended by all of the onlookers at the match, shouting, "Hey everybody! We're all gonna get laid!" In the final scene, the gopher emerges, unharmed, and dances amid the smoldering ruins of the golf course.