Harry Crumb is a bumbling and inept private investigator who is hired to solve the kidnapping of a young heiress which he's not expected to solve because his employer is the mastermind behind the kidnapping.
Freddy the gym teacher has to teach remedial English in summer (high) school, if he wants tenure. As he can only teach gym and his students want fun, emphasis is on "field trips" - until he's fired unless all his students pass the test.
A minor league baseball player has to spend thirty million dollars in thirty days, in order to inherit three hundred million dollars. However, he's not allowed to tell anyone about the deal.
A socially inept fourteen year old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends -- Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love -- fall for each other.
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.Written by
Rob Hartill
The movie in the USA was originally classified with a PG-13 rating but after cuts done during further editing were made the film was then re-classified with a PG rating. See more »
Goofs
After kicking out the guy watching the "Smurfs", the cigarettes on the bed change positions between shots while the dog is laying in bed next to them. See more »
Quotes
Jennifer Chester:
Did they even say how many rooms they're are?
Jack Chester:
It's three bedrooms and it's on the beach. That's all I know.
Sandy Chester:
Well it was very nice of Hal to find the place.
Jack Chester:
It was very nice of him to tell me that I'm cracking up.
Sandy Chester:
You are not cracking up. You just need this rest.
Jack Chester:
Rest? Didn't we just get back from Hawaii?
Sandy Chester:
Jack, that was our honeymoon.
See more »
Alternate Versions
There are many scenes that were cut from the movie that mostly dealt with the development of John Candy's character and the family before the vacation. There is about 5 minutes snipped out of the first 15-20 min of the film. They include:
Jack Chester pulling over to the side of the highway, telling the kids that the car is not moving until he has five seconds of silence.
Also on the way to Citrus Cove, Florida, they get fast food. The dog farts at this time, causing the family to stick their heads out the window.
When they arrive at the "wrong" house, they shows snips here and there through the course of their stay of Archie "the dog" chewing the leg off the couch.
Then, after Jack Chester unloads the trailer, there is another deleted scene involving Bobby and Jennifer about who gets the color TV.
Also, before they leave the house, Dan Gardner, "the owner" of the wrong house, they are staying at tells them that it is their house and not the Chesters', you see both of their expressions as to what they are felling at that moment when he and Jack Chester are in disagreement.
When the family leaves to go to the right house, Jack Chester says, "Have a nice summer". Following that, the two owners that own the house laugh and the couch breaks (a result of Archie's gnawing on the couch leg) and they fall backwards.
Finally, the scene where they arrive at the Barnacle for their dinner, there is a scene added to fill in for the edited scene where Laurie says, "This place sucks," instead of showing that they added a very brief scene of Rip Torn's character "Scully" approaching their table.
"Summer Rental" is a very pleasant comedy vehicle from director Carl Reiner and star John Candy. Candy stars as Jack Chester, an air traffic controller under alot of stress. His boss tells him he needs some time off from his job. So he packs up his family and heads for Florida hoping to have the time of their lives. But it doesn't go exactly that way, especially for Candy. He experiences about as much stress vacationing as he does at work. The funniest part of "Summer Rental" is the opening 5 minutes, with Candy exhibiting the kind of stress that causes his superiors to suggest a vacation. This part is a riot, and the movie is very funny for the first half. The film loses a little of its comic edge in the second half, when Candy takes up sailing and tries to win a bet against one of the locals, an obnoxious yachtsman played gamely by Richard Crenna. The second half still has some funny moments, but not as much as in the first half. Still, "Summer Rental" is a nice little movie, with the late John Candy giving one of his better leading performances. Karen Austin is very good as Candy's supportive wife Sandy; a very young Joey Lawrence (several years before "Blossom", back when he was starring on Nell Carter's '80s sitcom "Gimme A Break!") shines as Candy's son Bobby; Rip Torn is somewhat amusing as Scully, owner of a local restaurant on a boat who becomes Candy's good friend; and "Night Court's" John Larroquette also makes an appearence in a bit part. "Summer Rental" is one of director Reiner's better films, and it gets to show off Candy's considerable comic talents that are sorely missed today.
*** (out of four)
21 of 23 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
"Summer Rental" is a very pleasant comedy vehicle from director Carl Reiner and star John Candy. Candy stars as Jack Chester, an air traffic controller under alot of stress. His boss tells him he needs some time off from his job. So he packs up his family and heads for Florida hoping to have the time of their lives. But it doesn't go exactly that way, especially for Candy. He experiences about as much stress vacationing as he does at work. The funniest part of "Summer Rental" is the opening 5 minutes, with Candy exhibiting the kind of stress that causes his superiors to suggest a vacation. This part is a riot, and the movie is very funny for the first half. The film loses a little of its comic edge in the second half, when Candy takes up sailing and tries to win a bet against one of the locals, an obnoxious yachtsman played gamely by Richard Crenna. The second half still has some funny moments, but not as much as in the first half. Still, "Summer Rental" is a nice little movie, with the late John Candy giving one of his better leading performances. Karen Austin is very good as Candy's supportive wife Sandy; a very young Joey Lawrence (several years before "Blossom", back when he was starring on Nell Carter's '80s sitcom "Gimme A Break!") shines as Candy's son Bobby; Rip Torn is somewhat amusing as Scully, owner of a local restaurant on a boat who becomes Candy's good friend; and "Night Court's" John Larroquette also makes an appearence in a bit part. "Summer Rental" is one of director Reiner's better films, and it gets to show off Candy's considerable comic talents that are sorely missed today.
*** (out of four)