Vacanze in Florida

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.

I thoroughly enjoy watching this movie every time they show it on Comedy Central or USA or TNT. This movie is classic John Candy all the way. Candy has scenes, no matter how many I times I watch, that make me laugh so hard I fall from my chair. Like when he kicks all the people out of his house wielding a crutch. Sure the story may be weak and a little corny with the whole boat race but it ranks up there among my favorites.

It has some other memorable moments including Rip Torn's character of Scully. My of my favorite parts is when he is teaching Jack (played by Candy) to sail. They are on the boat late at night and they are both drunk. Scully announces to jack, "Here's and little ditty me mother used to sing to me", at which point he breaks into "The Theme from Love Boat" and Jack joins in with him. And then there is the scenes between Scully and Angus when Scully refers to Angus as a "dumb Swede" even though he is a Scot.

It is a good rainy day rental.

John Candy's wit and humor shines through as Jack Chester, the over worked air traffic controller who reluctantly takes a vacation to the beach with his family. The laughs keep coming as Jack and his family spend the summer at the beach with many mishaps occurring throughout the movie. The movie is about family and new friends pulling together, working side by side, believing in a dream and achieving an impossible goal. We've watched this movie many times, but we still laugh and feel good when the movie ends. The standing joke at our home, when we eat dinner out at a restaurant that passes off breaded fish as an expensive seafood item with a fancy name, is "Look - it's Scully's Catch of the day"! This movie is good, clean, family fun - entertainment for the entire family!

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