On G List of Movie Reviews

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The Great Outdoors (1988)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 5/04, 4/07

GrOut
4/07: My favorite moment of The Great Outdoors which describes Roman and Chet the best when they have a moment to take a look at the pristine landscape before them.

Roman begins to describe his vision: "I tell you what I see when I look out there. I see the undeveloped resources of Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, and Michigan. I see a syndicated development consortium exploiting over a billion and a half dollars in forest products.

I see a paper mill and—if the strategic metals are there—a mining operation. A greenbelt between the condos on the lake and a waste management facility focusing on the newest rage in toxic waste: medical refuse. Infected bandages, body parts, IV tubing, contaminated glassware, entrails, syringes, fluids, blood, low grade radioactive waste all safely contained sunken in the lake and sealed for centuries. Now I ask you, what do you see?"

Chet answers, "I, uh, I just see trees." The Great Outdoors is another memorable John Candy picture. Having Dan Aykroyd aboard is an extra treat. Although there are lots of laughs generated by John Candy and Dan Aykroyd, there are too few from everybody else. Also, there are other faults that stick out like a sore thumb:

One, I don't like the boy-girl summer romance which detracts too much from the fun of watching John Candy and Dan Aykroyd to ham it up. Two, there's weak character development among the children, most especially the two girls who seem to be from outer space. Three, Annette Bening doesn't have the knack for comedy, hence the limited screen time for her. Four, I find it weird to learn so much about Roman but little of everybody else.

All in all, despite the shortcomings, there are many funny scenes in The Great Outdoors that have made me laugh hard.