Vegas Vacation

There should be a self-help group where insecure people make themselves feel better by constantly repeating: "He's Chevy Chase and I'm not." After his infamous talk-show experience and countless forgettable flops, Chevy is back for more punishment in this dreadful fourth installment of the National Lampoon series. He's the bumbling but lovable Clark Griswold, and once again he's taking the family on vacation. At first nobody's too pleased with Clark's choice of destination, but soon enough the Griswold clan are living large in Sin City. Everyone except Clark, who loses all his money at blackjack before realizing that family matters more than gambling.

Wayne Newton is appealing as himself in a self-mocking role, Randy Quaid produces a few laughs resurrecting his wacko Independence Day role, and at the very end the legendary Sid Caesar offers a brief glimpse of what a real comic actor can do. As for Chevy, well, the last time he was funny, Gerald Ford was president. At the Copley Place, the Fresh Pond, and the Circle and in the suburbs.

-- Mark Bazer