There are some who enjoy the cinematic combination of scriptwriter John Hughes and actor John Candy. I am not one of them. I believe Hughes’ most forgettable films star Candy. The absolute worst might be “The Great Outdoors” (1988). Family-man Candy takes brood on vacation, sleazy brother-in-law Dan Aykroyd barges in, hijinks ensue. Meh. Actually, it’s worse than meh, because the hijinks are compounded by a plot twist you could see coming from a mile away and subplots involving puppy love and kids in danger that seem like leftovers from “The Brady Bunch” It’s Aykroyd and Hughes at their laziest.
Archives for posts with tag: Dan Aykroyd
“Feeling Minnesota” (1996) is a yucky movie about yucky people doing yucky things. Keanu Reeves, whose flatliner delivery typically doesn’t bother me all that much, sounds like he has brain damage. He and Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays his brother, stagger around like they’re possessed by that alien bug that got inside D’Onofrio in “Men in Black.” Dan Aykroyd, Cameron Diaz and Delroy Lindo appropriately bumble along as equally unlikeable supporting characters. The plot is basically just everyone screwing over each other for money. By the time the climax rolls around, you’d just like to see someone do something competently. Anything.
I was expecting a typical biopic, but “Get on Up” (2014) is so much more entertaining, so much more creative. Is it lazy to say the movie matches the man? James Brown, because of the sloppy last years of his life, has been reduced to that of an entertainment industry cartoon character (I know. As a TV newsman, I once stalked him in a driveway as he was bused into Broad River Correctional Institution). But he was a musical genius and an innovator on and off the stage. No, it’s not lazy to say this quirky film does him justice.
100wordreviews 