6.5
It's vacation time for outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley, along with his wife, Connie, and their two kids, Buck and Ben. But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie's obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig, his wife, Kate, and the couple's two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family.
Dan Aykroyd
Roman Craig
John Candy
Chet Ripley
Stephanie Faracy
Connie Ripley
Annette Bening
Kate Craig
Chris Young
Buck Ripley
Lucy Deakins
Cammie
Robert Prosky
Wally
Ian Giatti
Ben Ripley
Hilary Gordon
Cara Craig
Rebecca Gordon
Mara Craig
Zoaunne LeRoy
Juanita
Nancy Lenehan
Waitress
John Bloom
Jimbo
Lewis Arquette
Herm
Britt Leach
Reg
Cliff Bemis
Boat Yard Owner
Paul Hansen
Hot Dog Vendor
Debra Lee Ortega
Dancing Biker Girl
Sierra Somerville
Girl in Arcade
Christine Spiotta
Woman in Crowd
Chris Bass
Lodge Patron
Shirley Harris
Lodge Customer
Christopher Kinsman
Irate Customer
Andy Prosky
Grill Chef
Brian Healy
Man in Crowd
Bart the Bear
The Bald-Headed Bear (Jody)
Raleigh Bond
Grandpa (uncredited)
Director
Howard Deutch
Writer
John Hughes
February 24, 2021
4
Decent watch at best, probably won't watch again, but can recommend for those on a late-eighties nostalgia kick.
Sometimes it is good to get in "The Way Back Machine" and see some of the movies that made people famous, and I liked Dan Aykroyd and John Candy.
The duplicitous plot and character choices just didn't sit great with me. Having recently seen "Brother Nature", it is interesting to see a movie that could have inspired it. I think it would have been a lot better with John Candy as an overwhelmingly positive buzzkill and Aykroyd playing a family man. But Candy is sort of the family man of the late 1980s, and Aykroyd is the quintessential New York scumbag, and they do it well.
I'd ultimately say it is worth the watch, but there are probably a dozen "back to nature" movies I could recommend in front of this one.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$24,000,000.00
Revenue:
$43,455,230.00