46 - The Great Outdoors

    John Candy's middle-class vacation is ruined by his uninvited upper-class in-laws joining him.
    I'm counting this as a first viewing, because I don't think I've ever seen the whole thing.  I associate this movie with Harry & The Hendersons, since I think they came out around the same time.  Beyond the time period, there's a similar feeling to the movies.  They're supposed to be comedies, but they haven't aged very well.
    This movie is at least a bit better than Harry & The Hendersons.  There's still some very broad humor here, but it doesn't seem to be as constant as it was in Harry.
    The Great Outdoors was written by John Hughes, and it has a few of his signature marks.  There's a dance sequence (even if it's during the end credits) and there's a romance.  Hughes has a particular way of writing dialogue for teenage romances… it's over-the-top in a certain way.  Overly witty, but just on the cusp of believability.  What makes this strange is that the romance in this movie isn't earned.  It's actually the most conspicuous part of the movie.  Their romantic plot boils down to this:
    1 - boy inadvertently pokes girl in the butt with his pool cue
    2 - boy trails her and tries to apologize
    3 - girl dismisses him.
    4 - the next day, boy sees girl working her job
    5 - despite being reminded that she isn't interest, girl agrees to meet boy after work.
    6 - somehow, boy and girl are now boyfriend/girlfriend
    7 - boy and girl kiss on a boat on the lake
    8 - boy misses his date with girl because his father is eating a challenge steak
    9 - boy somehow meets up with girl right before leaving, and she doesn't seem to care

    The only information we learn about her throughout the movie is her name, her job, and that she's sick of living in a tourist town.  To be honest, that's more than we learned about the teenage guy.  Now that I think of it, everyone in the movie is pretty two-dimensional, except for the two male leads, and to a lesser extent, their wives.
    So, I'm trying to think of the things that are good about the movie.  The core of the story - the conflict between John Candy and Dan Aykroyd - is actually pretty good.  (To be honest, the same subject matter was handled well in Homer Loves Flanders)  There are some nice emotional developments, even though they all happen in about 20 minutes at the end of the movie.
    I think part of what made this not work for me was just that the target audience was probably older children, like probably kids between 8-12.

     While the movie is technically good, there is one thing that I noticed - the lighting is really wrong in a few scenes.  Some of the outdoor shots are very obviously lit by a crew.  It's fine for it to be lit by a crew, but not in an obvious way.