Summer Rental (1985)

Excellent but underrated film

Absolutely Fantastic

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Jack Chester, an overworked air traffic controller, takes his family on vacation to the beach. Things immediately start to go wrong for the Chesters, and steadily get worse. Jack ends up in a feud with a local yachtsman, and has to race him to regain his pride and family's respect.....It's the eighties, John Candy is the head of the family, and they go on holiday, and bump into special guest star Richard Crenna, and you get exactly what you would expect, a fun breezy comedy were Candy gets into all kinds of hi jinks.Things go awry when Candy puts a hole in Crennas boat and he forces them to move out of their summer home. Candy challenges bets him he will win the regatta, and if he wins, he gets to stay.So they get help from Rip Torn, a hilarious Scotsman, and the most uncomfortable playmate ever. And the film is ready to serve.If you've seen Reiners other movies from this era, you know what to expect.Its enjoyable fluff, something that you could watch from time to time, and forget it straight after.

John Candy, Richard Crenna, Rip Torn, Karen Austin, Kerri Green, Joey Lawrence and John Larroquette star in Carl Reiner's 1985 comedy. Jack Chester (Candy) is a burnt-out, air traffic controller who decides to take a vacation with his wife, Sandy (Austin), son, Bobby (Lawrence) and daughters, Jennifer, (Green) and Laurie (Aubrey Jene). They travel to Citrus Cove, Florida and Jack gets into some mishaps plus a bad sunburn. Crenna (First Blood) plays Al Pellet, a wealthy snob who is also a 7-year boat race champion, Torn (Defending Your Life) plays Scully, Captain and restaurant owner of "The Barnacle" and Larroquette (Blind Date) plays Don Moore, a nice guy who befriends The Chesters. This is a good 80's flick and Candy & the cast are great in it. I recommend this.

A great family movie. It's one of John Candy's forgotten bests... he plays a stressed out father trying to make the best for his family. The family are great and Rip Torn plays an excellent pirate fabrication. John Larroquette is also there for some reason. It's predictable, it's disjointed, it's sappy and it's over too quickly. Worth a watch as a study of inoffensiveness and cheezy 80s synth-pop. Completes a Candy collection, but don't forget the others.Odd that it feels like filler and complete at the same time.IMDb needs more, so here's a quote from Neitzche: And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.

In 1985,this was the first John candy movie I paid to see and all i can say over 20 years later is it's still as funny as it was then. That meaning,I laughed quite a bit but I went away feeling there could have been more to laugh at,with a bit more creativity in script writing.It's not a "bad" script but it's not great either. Some of the set-up's and payoffs are predictable. Like John getting caught looking at a woman showing off her "new bust job",only to have her husband walk in. Not predictable is his reaction of,"Are you at it again"? That and encouraging Candy to feel if they seem real.The end of the boat race is very predictable,you know John & family are going to win. I had hoped he'd make his victory funnier somehow. The rest in between,well,the humor is there but again,just could have been more spectacular or memorable in some way.I've watched it many times since then but my reaction has been no different than before. I guess it could be a simple fun film to watch (which it is)but for a comedy with a talent like John Candy,it's so-so. I stand by my 6 star rating and end by saying if simple fare is what you want,rent a laugh. It's here. I just like comedy on a higher octane level.(End)