The only film directed by Dan Aykroyd to date is this very dark, strange and completely misunderstood and underrated comedy.
I think the reason for its poor reception is comparing this to all of the other movies the cast had done to that point.
Chevy Chase the films main star made many good films such as Caddyshack, the Vacation series, Fletch and Funny Farm.
Aykroyd of course was huge off the success of both Ghostbusters pictures, John Candy had done Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck and even had a cameo in Home Alone the highest grossing comedy of all time at that point.
And then of course Demi Moore had just finished Ghost which was a huge smash hit so it would only be fair to expect with this cast and Aykroyd directing that this would be a film of similar quality.
The thing is many dont understand that as a screenwriter Aykroyd has been known to have very far-fetched ideas to which many directors have to say they cannot be filmed.
He apparently directed this movie after his buddies John Hughes and John Landis turned it down even though he didnt want to he knew it was necessary to get the film made.
Aykroyd's direction I feel is the main reason people misunderstand this movie. Keep in mind he also wrote this movie and played two large roles requiring heavy amounts of makeup. He also took every suggestion to heart from the cast and crew which resulted in some strangeness to say the least.
At one point he had monitors for his actors to view their performances and allowed them to make changes they saw fit and that is where I think the performances look different from any of the main casts other films.
Chase looks bored out of his mind as if he thinks the movie sucks and just wants a paycheck. We know he can show range when he wants to (Funny Farm is a great example of this.)
Aykroyd gives the best performance in the movie as the Reeve and provides some laughs.
Candy looks like he just wants to do his best for his buddy Aykroyd but in his role as Dennis the police officer he seems depressed and is really the only voice of reason. He also is in drag as Aykroyd's granddaughter who has affection for Chase. This performance is actually pretty funny.
Moore comes across extremely ambitious. Like Chase it seems she is aware that this movie is not the best fit for her talent but nonetheless she does her very best to work with the material she has and does well with it.
In order for this movie to be enjoyed you have to forget that this talented cast made better movies before and in the case of Moore especially since and just enjoy it as a pretty crappy movie that's actually fun because it is so bad.
That's why I like this movie. It truly is the definition of a so bad it's fun movie. I think Aykroyd as director felt there would be an audience out there that would appreciate this movie as such.
This is not Vacation, Ghostbusters, Planes, Trains and Automobiles or Ghost.
It's a funny quirky movie that is a lot of fun just for being so weird.
Go into it with that expectation and you should have some fun.
It's the kind of movie I like to watch on a bad day and have some laughs from its sheer quirkiness.
