DVD REVIEW: THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Shane | 15 January 2019 | Reply

DVD REVIEW: THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Shock Entertainment, October 2018
Written by John Hughes
Directed by Howard Deutch
Starring Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Annette Bening, Stephanie Faracy
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
5/10

Written by John Hughes, writer of many classics from the ‘80s and ‘90s (Breakfast Club, the Vacation series, Pretty In Pink, Uncle Buck, Planes Trains & Automobiles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, to name but a few), this Dan Aykroyd/John Candy vehicle never really elevates to the levels of his best work.

Even fans of the two stars will struggle to put this in their ‘must see’ categories, with both playing exactly to type, and many of the jokes entirely predictable and set against an inconsequential plot.

There are laughs to be had – but they are mostly of the gross-out variety, which Candy relied on far too often rather than the deeper comedy both he and Aykroyd were entirely capable of.