The Great Outdoors (1988)

“Why do Chet’s kids look at him like he’s Zeus and my kids look at me like I’m a rack of lawn tools at Sears? ” – Roman

Number of Times Seen – at least 5 times (Theater in 88, cable and 9 Jun 2014)

Brief Synopsis – A quiet family vacation in the woods is interrupted when their brother in law shows up with his family.

My Take on it – Re-watching this now, makes we wonder how I could have enjoyed this movie so much 25 years ago.

I guess memories really can be deceiving.

The plot is generally silly and the laughs are few and far between.

John Candy and Dan Ackroyd both have been funny on SCTV and SNL respectively, but this movie written by John Hughes just doesn’t give them much to work with.

It was nice to see Candy again even though his role wasn’t so great because he always had great screen presence and watching him reminded me of some of his better roles.  He is still missed 20 years later.

Bottom Line – Actually pretty silly watching it now. Candy still has great presence on the screen that is sorely missed.  My memories of this are much better than it actually is.

Rating – Razzie Worthy

_______________________________________

Check out my *updated* movie stats here

To see my reviews of Oscar Winning Performances check out this link

To see my reviews of all Oscar Best Picture Winners click here (now complete)

Here is a link to my movie index A-Z