Nobody plans a vacation better
than Clark Griswold (CHEVY CHASE). Loyal husband, devoted dad and
full-fledged family man, Clark puts such enthusiasm into Griswold
holiday outings that only the most unexpected circumstances can keep him
from achieving the ultimate family excursion. Unfortunately, the only
circumstances that ever seem to befall Clark are the unexpected kind.
But after braving a harrowing cross-country odyssey to deliver his
family to Wally World, after foiling an international company of
conspirators across Europe and after enduring the domestic horrors of
staying home for the holidays, Clark has finally chosen the perfect
destination. He's selected the Promised Land where the Griswolds can
enjoy their own special brand of kinship and reach certain vacation
nirvana: the new family-entertainment capital of America -- Las Vegas,
Nevada.
But Clark didn't count on one thing. Despite Vegas' new image as a city
with wholesome activities for the whole family to enjoy, its tempting
underbelly still lures the unsuspecting with its glitzy, glammy
enchantments. And each wide-eyed member of the Griswold gang becomes
seduced by the easy enticements of Sin City:
Clark's eternally doting wife, Ellen (BEVERLY D'ANGELO), who's never had
eyes for anyone but her "Sparky," falls into the thrall of Mr.
Las Vegas himself, WAYNE NEWTON, whose husky-voiced come-ons and amorous
attentions might be just enough to transform her into an all-out,
Newton-bomb of a "Wayniac";
Clark's son Rusty (ETHAN EMBRY), still several birthdays shy of 21,
becomes hypnotized by the ca-ching of the casinos and finds a way to
become the city's slickest, suavest high roller;
Shy daughter Audrey (MARISOL NICHOLS) is introduced to the profit-making
potential of the bump-and-grind set by cage-dancing Cousin Vickie (SHAE
D'LYN);
And even Clark himself proves susceptible to the come-hither siren call
of the Glitter Gulch. Taunted, teased and trumped time and again by a
merciless card dealer (WALLACE SHAWN), he falls deeper and deeper into
debt, knowing that Lady Luck's coming back with the next hand . . . or
maybe the next . . . well, definitely the next. Okay, one more.
Clark discovers an unexpected ally, however, in Cousin Eddie (RANDY
QUAID), who's living with his wife, Catherine (MIRIAM FLYNN), in
comfortable squalor in a trailer outside the city. Finally bridging
their vast differences in income, attire, attitude and grooming, Clark
and Eddie become partners in poverty and brothers of misfortune as they
conspire to hide Clark's secret soft spot for the tables.
Can the Griswolds come back together once they've tasted the high life
in Lost Wages? Before their Vegas voyage is over, they'll see and do it
all: wonder at the illusion of a SIEGFRIED & ROY stage extravaganza,
scale the dizzying heights of the Hoover Dam, thrill at the bulbs and
buzz on the Strip and indulge in the decadent pleasures of the
big-ticket suites.
And on the open holiday road, Clark even encounters a familiar blond
mystery beauty driving a red Ferrari (CHRISTIE BRINKLEY).
How could he, even with his best-laid vacation plans ever, have foreseen
a set of circumstances as unexpected as these?