Getting Even with Dad (1994)

best movie i've ever seen.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The movie is about an ex-con named Ray Gleason (played by Ted Danson), who plans to steal millions of dollars in rare coins, along with his two cronies Carl and Bob (played by Saul Rubinek and Gailard Sartain. Their plan is thwarted when his sister drops off his son named Timmy (played by Macaulay Culkin). He hides the coins somewhere his father won't find them. He agrees to tell them where the coins are on one condition: if they take him places for a week. But a female cop named Teresa (played by Glenne Headly) goes undercover to find out what Gleason is doing. And she falls for him. On the other hand, the cronies decide to find the rare coins themselves. And of course, they fail. Near the end, Gleason finds the bag in a bus locker, which turned out to have pennies in it, but still gets arrested, along with Carl, and Bob got off scot-free. And the bag with the real coins got retrieved by Teresa in a mall. To be honest, it's not so bad. It's not a perfect movie, but it's great entertainment.

The title was very familiar to me, and it sounded like the kind of film that the young star of Macaulay Culkin would be in, so I was interested to see whether the concept would be, from director Howard Deutch (The Whole Ten Years). Basically Raymond 'Ray' Gleason (Three Men and a Baby's Ted Danson) is planning a coin heist with his two accomplices Robert 'Bobby' Drace (Saul Rubinek) and Carl (Gailard Sartain) so he can buy a bakery, but he has a surprise visitor. His son Timmy (Razzie nominated Macaulay Culkin) has been living with Ray's sister, including while he was in prison, and he wants to a get to know his father better, but obviously this is inconvenient. The thieves manage to pull off the heist and get the valuable coins, and Timmy finds out about it, and he uses it to his advantage by taking and hiding the coins in order to con his father. Ray has to spend time with his son in order to get the coins back, this includes trips to a swimming park, a mini golf course and meals out, and for a while this is getting on his nerves, but actually over time the father is getting closer to and finding admiration for his son. Meanwhile the police are also trying to find the coins and catch the gang out, with Detective Theresa Walsh (Glenne Headly) going undercover to get close to the main man, and unintentionally falling for him. Eventually Timmy finds that he cannot change his father's ways, and he offers him the choice of the coins back, or staying with his son, and thankfully he chooses his son, but the locker the coins are in are opened and he ends up arrested. In the end though the bag is full of loose change, the real coins are returned to the authorities, and Timmy and Ray go on to have a close father-son relationship. Also starring Hector Elizondo as Lt. Romayko, Sam McMurray as Alex, Sydney Walker as Mr. Wankmueller and Kathleen Wilhoite as Kitty. Culkin does his usual mischievous and more clever than the adults character, as well as being a little spoilt, and he has a silly hairdo, Danson also has a slightly daft pony tail, he gives a good annoyed performance, I will agree that the father's thieving partners are the ones that get a little more punishment, I hoped for more slapstick stuff, it was an easy to swallow but hardly worth the effort family comedy. Okay!

Ray, an ex-con and widower, is planning a coin heist with two accomplices to help him to buy his own bakery.However, he doesn't expect his son Timmy, who was living with Ray's sister, to show up at the house right in the middle of planning.Timmy is ignored and Ray and his buddies pull off the heist. Timmy gets his father's attention by stealing the coins and hiding them.To get them back, his father must take him to a number of different places and treat him like he enjoys his presence.They grow fond of each other but Timmy won't stay with his dad unless he gives up the coins....Culkin was getting older, so the cute thing he did in his earlier stuff was now becoming annoying, hence the reason why this bombed big time.And the fact that the film was overlong and just not very funny..But thats not to say that it isn't watchable. Danson is great as Ray, even though you'd expect him to be in a Stallone comedy with that accent. And he does have great chemistry with the cast and especially Culkin toward the end.But it's all predictable stuff, as there are hi-jinks and pratfalls from the two bumbling sidekicks who are just interested in the coins, and these become tiresome straight away.It's one of those movies you can have on in the background and not really watch, but you can still follow the story pretty easy.Too long for kids, way too long for adults.

The movie starts in pretty interesting fashion when Macauley Culkin is deposited on the doorstep of his father, Ted Danson, just as he and his mates are preparing for a heist. However, the movie soon degenerates into "Home Alone" style antics as the young son brilliantly outsmarts his father time and time again. This all seems very familiar. Eventually the movie ends after nearly 2 1/2 hours of capers and disbelief. I wish they had of keeped the son out of it- police trying to 'get even' with the crooks sounds like a much better movie.