The Great Outdoors (1988)

Director:

Howard Deutch

Writer (WGA):

John Hughes (written by)

Release Date:

17 June 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

This holiday's no picnic.

Plot:

A Chicago man's hope for a peaceful family vacation in the woods is shattered when the annoying in-laws drop in.

Plot Keywords:

Brother In Law | Lifting Person In Air | Power Outage | Bat | Dead Man

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Dec. 2	1:00 PM	E
Thur. Dec. 3	7:00 AM	E

Cast

Dan Aykroyd	...	Roman Craig
John Candy	...	Chet Ripley
Stephanie Faracy	...	Connie Ripley
Annette Bening	...	Kate Craig
Chris Young	...	Buck Ripley
Ian Giatti	...	Ben Ripley
Hilary Gordon	...	Cara Craig
Rebecca Gordon	...	Mara Craig
Robert Prosky	...	Wally
Zoaunne LeRoy	...	Juanita
Lucy Deakins	...	Cammie
Nancy Lenehan	...	Waitress
John Bloom	...	Jimbo
Lewis Arquette	...	Herm
Britt Leach	...	Reg

Also Known As:

Big Country (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | UK:PG | USA:PG | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bass Lake, California, USA

Company:

Hughes Entertainment

Trivia:

The lakeside restaurant used in this movie was Ducey's Bar and Grill in Bass Lake, California, which burned to the ground shortly after filming due to a gas fire. The rebuilt restaurant today has posters and memorabilia from the film hanging on its walls as a reminder of the old restaurant.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Chet is throwing up, Roman (Dan Aykroyd) can be seen giving a cue for the other actors in the scene to run away.

Quotes:

Wally: [the Chesters are great by a snarling, barking dog that's been attacked by a porcupine upon check in at the cabin] Don't mind Wormer folks, she hates people.
[Dog still barking and snarling]
Wally: Wormer, shut the frig up! What can I do ya for?
Buck Ripley: What happened to that dog's, uh, dog's face?
Wally: Porcupine quills. Hates people, loves porcupines. She's in heat too. Too bad you're not a dog. What can I do ya for?

Movie Connections:

References The Exorcist (1973)

Soundtrack:

Cabin Fever

A limp 10 for poor Candy

John Candy was his funniest playing the sweet simpleton type who always found a way to humiliate himself. Akroyd was only funny when he did the cocky, suave, self-sufficient type who always found a way to humiliate others. Now when these two are cast in their ideal roles for a comedy and the thing isn't funny at all, ya' know that there's something wrong. Seriously wrong. Just like in SUMMER RENTAL, John Candy is wasted amidst a trifle of a movie. He was just one of those performers, too, that never got blamed for his movies being so bad. We as an audience always felt sorry for the guy when we saw him in an awful movie. I think here, though, he may have been at fault just as all the others. But not as much. The directing certainly didn't help. I won't rate this film on a general scale, for I don't want to sound too cruel. So I'll rate it on a scale of one to ten in terms of limpness. A 10! A perfect 10!