The Great Outdoors (1988)

Writer and Executive Producer: John Hughes (but not Director for this one). It's funny that Hughes uses his real name for his "top-tier" stuff, but uses the pen name, Edmond Dantes, for stuff he wrote that he doesn't want to be connected with. Why didn't he use Dantes for this screenplay?

Seems like a good simple premise. Put John Candy and his family and the uninvited guests, Dan Akroyd and his family, in the Great Northern Forests, and see what happens.

Chet (Candy) plays a kind of E.B. White "father." He remembers going up North as a kid, and he wants to give his kid the same fond memories he had.

Roman (Akroyd) doesn't have a love of nature. He looks out at the great expanse of undeveloped land, and he sees dollars signs -- tree mills, mining, and places to dump toxic waste.

As you would expect, there's comedic conflict between the two families, and then they come together and discover the real meaning of family. Buck (Chris Young) also gets his first taste of love, although they both know that it's just for 3 days, but the memories, I guess, will last a lifetime.

My favorite character was Buck "the bald-headed" Bear. They use a real bear, which is very cool. Because you know that these days, that bear would be CGI. The "talking" raccoons were kind of cool, too, but for me, it was the bear.

Siskel and Ebert gave it two thumbs down, and Siskel acted like it was the worst movie he ever saw. I agree that it's not that great, and it's one of those movies where Akroyd just plays the part of Akroyd rather than bring any acting to the role. They also compare this movie to the Vacation franchise, saying this one doesn't even live up to that standard.

Rating: 2/5 stars

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