The Great Outdoors

I decided to watch this film because I remember it being on TV once when I was young and I caught the ending. After viewing “The Great Outdoors in its entirety, I didn’t really find it all that entertaining. There were some funny gags but the story took a back seat to them. Many of the plot points lacked subtext and the romantic plotline of the film seemed too out of place.

John Candy and Dan Aykroyd performing comedy by John Hughes is the main source of entertainment in this film. I love for example the climax of the bear story that Chet tells. It is really funny with that shot of the exterior of the cabin. I also like when Chet is pretending to choke his wife. There are many great gags in the film such as Chet waterskiing, bears on car, the old guy’s birthday party and the leeches. I love Chet’s outfit during the bat hunt and his line, “The pain.” The “Home of the Old ’96er” introductory shot with the music was really humorous and that whole sequence has some funny facial acting by Candy. Another one of my favorite lines of Candy’s is “Big bear chase me” because of the sudden entrance by the bear. The sound of that bear after getting shot during the climax is pretty darn funny. The drama in the movie was okay but not perfect. It is obvious that Chet has problems with Roman but these are voiced towards the start of the film and the middle is full of comedy. It would have been nice for Chet to verbally say that Roman was still pushing things. The scene where Chet goes to pack should have happened towards the middle of the movie in my opinion. The argument between Roman, Chet and their wives had the subtext as a result but not quite enough of it. The father/son moments in the film such as the passing of the ring lacked some sincerity. It was not because of the acting but rather because of the script. We have the families show up at the lake at the start of the movie and the important back stories are only implied. “Home Alone 2” took place in New York City but we still had the important opening act in Chicago. Hughes should have had an opening act for “The Great Outdoors” and thus the heartfelt moments would have been authentic. The biggest problem with this movie was the romance that Buck has. It felt out of place and unbelievable. That is saying something from the man who brought us “Sixteen Candles”. I don’t buy Cammie’s change of heart at the local amusement park. It seems too convenient. The script also makes it too obvious that Buck will miss the date. That scene where Buck promises should have been written a little more subtly. The relationship between Buck and Cammie seems to have no potential either because Buck is going to leave at the end of the movie. As a side note however, I do remember when A&W was a drive-in restaurant.

In terms of fun facts, “The Great Outdoors” was Annette Bening’s film debut and Thomas Newman, who would later receive multiple Oscar nominations for other films, wrote the score. The vulgarity and its lack of good storytelling are let downs for this movie despite its funny moments. “Uncle Buck” is better than this movie.

3 Stars