Synopsis
It's vacation time for outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley, along with his wife, Connie, and their two kids, Buck and Ben. But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie's obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig, his wife, Kate, and the couple's two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Dan AykroydRoman Craig
- John CandyChet Ripley
- Stephanie FaracyConnie Ripley
- Annette BeningKate Craig
- Chris YoungBuck Ripley
- Lucy DeakinsCammie
- Robert ProskyWally
- Ian GiattiBen Ripley
- Hilary GordonCara Craig
- Rebecca GordonMara Craig
Recommandations
- 50
Variety
Writer-executive producer John Hughes conjurs up a romance between Candy’s teenage son (Chris Young) and a local girl (Lucy Deakins), but that proves the film’s biggest letdown. Last third of the film is a real mess, as filmmakers try to whip up a crisis that will unite the family, with the redheaded twins getting lost in a mineshaft during a wild rainstorm. Despite all this, the Aykroyd-Candy pairing is charmed. Stephanie Faracy is excellent as Candy’s sweet, happy wife, and Bening is also savvy in her role. - 50
Chicago Tribune
Even for John Hughes, who writes movies in less time than most people write postcards, The Great Outdoors seems unusually slapdash. - 50
Miami Herald
The Great Outdoors isn't great. The Dopey Outdoors would be more like it. It's wildly uneven, yet consistently dumb. [17 June 1988, p.C5] - 40
Empire
Entertaining family movie for rainy nights and Christmas holidays. - 40
Tampa Bay Times
John Hughes didn't have an idea for a summer film this year, but he went ahead and made one anyway. The Great Outdoors, Hughes' latest extrusion from his script factory, has almost nothing to recommend it, save a lovely performance by John Candy, one of the most likable actors anywhere. Candy is untouchable; when the film is good, you want to see more of him, because he's mostly the reason. When the film is not so good (which is often), you don't blame him. [17 June 1988, p.7] - 25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
What can you say about a film the comic high point of which is Dan Aykroyd standing half-naked in a bathroom while extracting hairs from his nostrils with manicure scissors? For starters you can say it's bad, as bad as a film can be that looks to National Lampoon's Vacation for creative inspiration. [17 June 1988] - 20
The New York Times
Though the film never becomes actively unfunny, neither does it do much more than tread water. The raccoons have a better time than the audience will. - 20
TV Guide Magazine
Scripted by the extraordinarily prolific John Hughes, directed by Howard Deutch, and starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd, this disappointing comedy should have been much funnier given the talent of those involved.
