Dutch (1991).

Review #2242: Dutch.

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.

Vegas Vacation.

Review #1083: Vegas Vacation.

Cast: 
Chevy Chase (Clark Griswold), Beverly D'Angelo (Ellen Griswold), Randy Quaid (Cousin Eddie), Ethan Embry (Russell "Rusty" Griswold), Marisol Nichols (Audrey Griswold), Miriam Flynn (Cousin Catherine), Shae D'Lyn (Cousin Vicki), Wayne Newton (Himself), Wallace Shawn (Marty the Blackjack dealer), Juliette Brewer (Cousin Ruby Sue), Sid Caesar (Old Guy), and Siegfried & Roy (Themselves) Directed by Stephen Kessler.

Review: 
I couldn't find any time in the review to make a Vegas sports joke/reference, given that they now have a hockey team (and a particularly good one this year), with the timing of this review to their appearance in the Conference Finals against the Winnipeg Jets (a team that I like and follow a bit more than the Golden Knights, although I appreciate both being in the final four) being a coincidence. In any case, enjoy the review and enjoy a good Conference Finals.

Remember the first three films? Although each had a varying quality to them, they managed to be fairly entertaining pieces of entertainment (at least for the first and third ones, in my view), with Chase and D'Angelo being key standouts, especially in National Lampoon's Vacation (#804). This time around, I can't say that is the case. If National Lampoon's European Vacation (#1060) could be cited by me as an average film, Vegas Vacation could be cited as an awful venture that produces the least amount of returns of the four films, which is made fairly obvious by the first half of the film. It is actually strange to see how long it took to make a fourth film that followed after National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (#771), being released eight years later, by which time Chase had already passed 50 and the two Griswold children are replaced again by actors who now look like they could almost be in college. This time around, the National Lampoon moniker has been removed, with the vacation destination being just one place (as evidenced by the title). It is the only Vacation film with a PG rating, as compared to the R rating for the first film and a PG-13 rating for the other two. The humor certainly feels sanitized in some part because of this decision to go for PG, although that doesn't mean that funny films can't come from things rated PG, it just means that this film isn't funny because of its attempts to reach across the aisle for audiences.

At any rate, it is obvious that this film doesn't have much motivation to go on beyond a bunch of weak gags and a few indulgent cameos that actually seem more interesting to watch than the actual film and its plot. When the parts with Wayne Newton and Siegfried & Roy are more interesting to watch than the scenes with the Griswolds, I think you have a big problem. It isn't so much that they don't have much chemistry with each other as a group, it's just that it feels more like a mediocre sitcom kind of family than anything actually really particularly funny, dwelling in cliché levels (particularly involving Las Vegas) that aren't at all surprising. Chase looks tired in his role (grey hair included), not really making the material given to him leap off much, with the greed aspects seeming more stale than anything. D'Angelo does fine, taking her material and rolling with whatever it leads to (ridiculous as it is), whether with Chase or Newton. Quaid's bumpkin role garners a few laughs, but it isn't anything too particularly new or any too funny. Embry and Nichols deliver plain performances, but it isn't anything too particularly annoying at least. The other members of the cast aren't too terrible, but they don't contribute to too many laughs; Caesar (in his final on-screen appearance) shows up near the end of the film, which is slightly amusing in its briefness for his gestures, sad as that may seem. Newton is okay, but sometimes his scenes fall a bit tiresome, in part because the movie doesn't really have much focus besides just throwing a bunch of gags and lines (and a few visuals of Las Vegas) and hoping it sticks with him. Shawn does fine with this brief but scuzzy part, even if the gag (involving Chase who can't stop losing in bets) gets tiresome fairly quickly. Each of the four Griswolds have their own kind of story, and only D'Angelo's feels particularly interesting, cliché as it is.

The components of writing and directing for this film are a bit different than usual, with the film's screenplay was done by Elisa Bell, who had written a few teleplays for TV movies prior to this film, while Bob Ducsay (a long time editor for films such as G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - #201 and Star Wars: The Last Jedi - #1027) contributed to the story, with Stephen Kessler (in his feature film debut) as director. The blame falls in part to them, but it also falls to people who thought it was a good idea to make a film after eight years with the belief that this would be a huge hit. Instead, the result that came from this movie is a huge dud. Is it horrible? No, but it is a miserable misfire that drags its cast down just as much as it drags the audience down with its attempts at humor. I'm reminded of my actual time spent at Las Vegas a few years ago with my dad, in which I bought a snow-globe that I still have in my house to this day. The brief experience I spent there (including a bad attempt at swimming and staying at a motel) was easily better than the time I spent watching this movie.

Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 stars.