ARTS I Page 10 Saturday, August 6, 1983 The Michigan Daily 'Vacation' deserves some time off By Richard Campbell C HEVY CHASE has a knack for starring in comedies that aren't funny. What is funny is that they don't seem to do any harm to his career. Everyone knows that Chase is a won- derful comedian, and capable of per- forming deadpan humor as easily as slapstick. That reputation, however, rests solely on his days as a regular on "Saturday Night Live." His feature films have consistantly portrayed him as a somewhat amusing yet unin- teresting character. National Lampoon's Vacation stars Chase as the quintessential suburban father who has planned the great American road trip, a journey from Chicago to California for the ultimate in family fun, three days at Wally World. National Lampoon's Vacation Starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo and Christie Brinkley Directed by Harold Ramis Now playing at Fox Village Theaters This could have been a wonderful pic- ture. With a look at middle-age fatherhood, the American dream, mar- ital tensions, and family all wrapped up in the classic structure of the odyssey, Vacation might have been both funny and poignant. Instead it's neither. Director Harold Ramis and screen- writer John Hughes have slapped together senseless comedic bits that have little to do with either the plot or style of the film. You could direct this movie in your sleep: An aerial shot of the family stationwagon cruising along DANIEL'S "USED BABY THINGS" BABY CRIBS, PLAYPENS, STROLLERS, CHANGING TABLES, TOYS, SWINGS, CLOTHING & MORE WE BUY, SELL & REPAIR OPEN: MON-SAT 10-6 587 S. MAPLE 761-9305 k~764-0558 Chevy Chase and Beverly D'angelo take a vacation in the latest movie from National Lampoon. a highway with the words "St. Louis" at the bottom, cut to a city street and tell a joke. Repeat that formula for 100 minutes at various locations across the continent and you've got yourself a movie. At several points the film screeches to a halt just for the sake of a paltry joke. Ramis recreates the shower scene from Psycho as Chase attacks his wife with a banana; as father and son race the final 50 yards to Wally World, the theme from Chariots of Fire thunders on the soundtrack. Beverly D'Angelo manages the role as Chase's wife with a fair amount of tolerance and understanding. But when Chase strays from the pressures of family for a romp in the pool with Christie Brinkley, she forgives him University T HE MEDIEVAL FESTIVAL, the annual gala, nonprofit fair, is being held today and tomorrow at the School of Music. The fair will include music, dance, food, plays, sword fights and medieval arts and crafts as participan- ts become knights and damsels for a day. Ron Kramer, Medieval Festival technical director and professional stagecrafter at the Performance Net- work, helped design and build between 90 and 100 props out of cloth, felt, silk, muslin, wood, glue and paper for the four morality plays - each which will be performed twice. "We had to build furniture which could withstand severe punishment for the Second Shepherd's Play," Kramer said, "because an untidy housewife throws around rustic benches in this play. "For Death In A Tree, the German immediately and forgets about the in- cident completely. The dramatic back- bone of the film, such as it was meant to be, is completely broken. What should have been an essential ingrediant in the character's story is shown only to be a prop on which to hang a few laughs. All of this is surprising coming from Ramis. His earlier effort, Stripes, was a similar pastiche of jokes built around a skimpy plot, but they were jokes that worked. And the plot, Bill Murray's growth from wise-cracking loon to a leader of men, was never sacrificed for a laugh or directed with a heavy-hand. The result was a light, airy, summer comedy, rather than the barren, poin- tless monotony of Vacation. In the background of this limp film are a few good performances. John Candy comes up with an effective ver- sion of the 300-pound-nerd-character for his cameo; Imogene Coca buffoons her way through her role as the aunt nobody likes; Randy Quaid aw-shucks himself into farmland obscurity; and Eddie Bracken sputters through the character of Mr. Wally. It may be that Chase is in a similar situation as Richard Pryor. Both are fine comedians capable of brilliance. Yet neither has demonstrated it in any film of substance. Breaking Loose, Stir Crazy, Modern Problems, and Cad- dyshack are all tame, uninspired films as opposed to the wild, inventive comedy that we know these two can produce. You can add Vacation to the list and pray that Chase finds a movie soon that will really stretch his talents. 4 draws Medieval Fest 4 meister play by Hans Sachs which features a coward, a bully a cynic and a hermit, we had to build a lot of weaponry, especially daggers." The other two plays will be Company of Wayward Saints and Gammer Gur- ton's Needle. All of the plays will be held in the School of Music Walnut Grove area, a natural ampitheatre. Four concerts will be held inside the School of Music Recital Hall. The Early Music Ensemble, made up of 23 musicians who play recorders, crum horns, sakbuts, zinks (a woodwind with a trumpet mouthpiece), shawms (early oboes), viols, harpsichords and violins, will perform early German Renaissan- ce music at 1 p.m. Directed By Mat- thew Steel, the Ensemble will also per- form songs by John Dowland at 3 p.m. "Rediscovering the Spanish Baroque" will be performed at 5 p.m. This will mark the first performance of some music that School of Music professor Thomas Taylor discovered at the Vallididlid Cathedral in Spain three years ago while on sabbatical. The Conjunto Hispanica will also per- form, directed by Thomas Taylor at 3:30 p.m. "My involvement in the Medieval festival had bearing on my decision to becomea Medievalist," said Steel. "The festival has provided a spring board for the formation of many groups. -A vocal group and a dance group that both formed at the festival went on to perform elsewhere in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Morris Dance Team also formed at the festival. "The festival, which first began 14 years ago is held together by a small group of volunteers who meet monthly throughout the year," Steel said. - Ellen Lindquist 4 4