Summer Rental (1985)

Powerful

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

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.

For most of his career, John Candy played a bunch of rather silly roles that - while they were completely goofy - were great nevertheless. "Summer Rental" is one such role. Candy plays overworked air traffic controller Jack Chester, who takes his family on vacation in Florida. Naturally, it ends up being not as much of a vacation as they hoped. Finally, Jack and his family decide to take one last chance to restore their dignity.I will admit that "Summer Rental" is pretty much a big excuse to be silly, but you gotta love it. This is John Candy doing what he does best. It's really too bad that he died; he really had a good track record.

This movie is from a time that I sorely miss. It is about having a good time, and nothing else. There's no violence, no crude sexual comedy, just the legendary John Candy doing what he did best. Given, the music and clothing are extremely dated, but this is without a doubt the best feelgood lighthearted movie I've ever seen. All of the characters come together perfectly to tell us the tale of Jack Chester. One of the most memorable is Scully, the sailor/pirate. To this day, I see Scully whenever I see Rip Torn in any movie. This story just makes me feel good for days after I see it. John Candy is surely one of the best comics of the past 30 years, pulling this move together.

The type of movie you can watch once a year and never get tired of. Typical John Candy film. Why did he always get mediocre scripts, save the John Hughes films? Was Hughes the only director who saw his talent? Either way, Candy rises above the material and makes the film fun to watch, but not necessarily a great film by any means. Great line regarding "The Smurfs." 3/5 stars -John Ulmer