The January Man/ National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2

141. The January Man
142. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure


The January Man tells the story of a former New York City police officer brought back into the fold to help solve a serial killer case.

Kevin Kline stars as Nick Starkey. Starkey is working as a firefighter since being fired in the midst of a big scandal. A serial killer is responsible for the deaths of 11 women and Starkey is the only one intelligent enough to be able to solve the case. This does not go over very well with the people who saw Starkey as a disgrace to the badge. Will Starkey be able to crack the case before another murder is committed?

I enjoyed this one. The story maintains your interest throughout while attempting to figure out the identity of the killer. The film touches numerous genres so there is really something for everyone. The cast is really good with Kline as Starkey. Solid support comes from Susan Sarandon, Harvey Keitel, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Danny Aiello and Alan Rickman. Again, just a really solid cast. My biggest complaint about the movie is the reveal of the killer. I'm not going to spoil anything but I will just say that I was hoping for a bit more.

Overall, The January Man is a decent watch. Maybe not worth a blind buy but it's at least worth a rental.


National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure is the made-for-tv 5th installment of the popular Vacation series.

Whereas the previous four movies followed the adventures of Clark Griswold and his family, this one focuses on Cousin Eddie and his family. After losing yet another job, Eddie is offered a free tropical vacation as a bit of extra compensation. The vacation finds them on a beautiful island in the South Pacific. They take a day trip on a boat when disaster strikes and they find themselves as castaways on a deserted island. Will they be rescued in time to celebrate Christmas or is island living going to be their ultimate fate?

Uggggggggh. That was my first thought while viewing this one. The second thought I had was of disbelief that I had actually paid money to get this one. I was at Wal-Mart once upon a time when I stumbled upon this title in their dump bin. I figured it wouldn't be too terrible a loss for $5. When I got home, I checked the receipt and found that it was actually $8.50. Damn the dump bin! Anyway, I have always enjoyed the Vacation movies. Even the not nearly as popular Vegas Vacation. This? This isn't a Vacation movie. Well, it is but strictly in name. Everything else is severely lacking.

The story is virtually non-existent, instead we just bounce from incident to incident to confirm how big of an idiot Eddie is. Whereas the Eddie character was actually funny in previous movies, it's just a shell of itself here. Randy Quaid does the best he can do here but there really isn't all that much to work with. About the only highlight here is the return of Dana Barron, reprising her role of Audrey Griswold from the original Vacation. This marks the first time in series history that one of the Griswold kids has been played twice by the same actor.

Overall, this movie is a big old steaming pile. Skip it.