Cast:
Ed O'Neill (Dutch Dooley), Ethan Embry (Doyle Standish), JoBeth Williams (Natalie Standish), Christopher McDonald (Reed Standish), E.G. Daily (Hailey), Ari Meyers (Brock), L. Scott Caldwell (Homeless Woman), and Kathleen Freeman (Gritzi) Directed by Peter Faiman (#023 - Crocodile Dundee)
Review:
Okay, I will admit that this one was on the list for quite a while because I couldn't quite figure out where to put it despite all of the appealing aspects: Ed O'Neill, Ed O'Neill, and Ed O'Neill. My favoritism for O'Neill is because he starred in the one show I remember most in my childhood of mostly antenna TV: reruns of Married...with Children (the film was released in the middle of the show's run on Fox). O'Neill actually was a football player in his time at Youngstown State University before being cut in Pittsburgh's NFL training camp in 1969; this led him to go back to Youngstown State to enroll in theater. His work on stage (a mix of Broadway and Off-Broadway stuff, most notably Of Mice and Men) drew enough notice for Fox to have him audition for Married...with Children that, well, you know the rest. Oh, and I suppose there might be a tiny compelling aspect for some in seeing what a John Hughes-written comedy looks like from the director of Crocodile Dundee (1986). The Melbourne native (from Victoria, Australia) Faiman had directed plenty of television before Dundee, which included The Don Lane Show, but Dutch (1991) is currently the only other theatrical film directed by Faiman. With Hughes, this was part of the consistent run in twelve years with at least one Hughes-penned film being released in theaters that went from National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982) to Miracle on 34th Street (1994). So yes, for every Home Alone (1990), there was the stuff that, well, are about as known as Career Opportunities (1991). Dutch wasn't exactly a hit with audiences or critics, needless to say. My interest in the film sprung from one silly sight gag in an episode about renting a VHS tape that showed the poster for Dutch...with a "Free Video" sign right over one of the faces. Strangely enough, O'Neill and Embry would pair up once more with the ill-fated 2003 TV rendition of Dragnet.
Sure, why not have a movie with a "great, big, demented child" and a "spoiled worm" in a mishmash of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (a Hughes production, released four years earlier involving making it home before Thanksgiving)? Look, I can't really cite the film as an underrated gem in normal parameters, but "John Hughes' greatest hits" is sort of a blessing and curse in the same sentence. I play my favorites because damn it, I like O'Neill and his rascal talent in making a lovable brute that is familiar in the ways I like to think about every now and then. It reminded me of the one time I went on a trip with my dad (who along with my mom was a Married with Children fan, and my mom still loves to say "Bundy up" when interested in watching an episode on DVD) before he passed away that involved plenty of driving and a few of the mishaps that come with "best-laid plans". The one thing I remember best is a mishap that resulted in driving through California when trying to get to Oregon as opposed to going through Nevada (the return trip was better, but going through Arizona again is an experience not worth thinking about). I wasn't nearly as stuck-up as the kid in the film, but I was an idiot fourteen-year-old who probably wished he took more time to savor the moments that came on the road with a father that was shall we say, the kind of guy who would drive to a hospital on a broken hip rather than think about taking an ambulance. I appreciate O'Neill and his charming nature that is earthy in a way that could play a hustler or would-be dad without uttering a false note. I contend that weary concoction of honesty and pig-headed pride is endearing without just being an Al Bundy clone. Embry has the hardest task imaginable in playing a snob with layers to peel away, and I would say he does fine in that regard, because even predictable shows of humility is better than nothing. For a road movie built on bickering and goofs (i.e. maybe 2% cartoonish), the two make an ideal pairing that I would argue just straddles above the line between chuckles and hokum. The rest of the cast, as one probably expects from a buddy film, isn't really given much to do beyond a few one-note things (with McDonald being the highlight as the obvious brash setup man), although no one drags it too much (I would say though that by the time the film gets to the homeless shelter, it sure is pushing its luck). It is a bit too casual to really ever get to the category of "good" when it comes to ambition in a familiar genre, but liking the journey is what I was hoping for and got without too many bumps. As a whole, Dutch is the kind of carefree film with cozy familiarity that either will fit right in for a casual viewing or ends up being dismissed as, well, something you've felt like you have seen one too many times. I fall in the former category, finding it to be just fine in the overall result that has an ideal leading presence to make for worthwhile chuckles. It isn't anything great, but it surely deserved better than to be washed away as just an unsuccessful attempt at getting a sitcom star their own film.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
Next up: Robert Altman's O.C. and Stiggs.
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