Simply Perfect

Better Late Then Never

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Jack Chester (John Candy) is an over-stressed 13-year air traffic controller. His boss forces him to take a vacation. With his wife Sandy (Karen Austin), kids Jennifer (Kerri Green), Bobby (Joey Lawrence) and Laurie, they drive down to Citrus Cove, Florida. The town big shot Al Pellet (Richard Crenna) cuts in line at the restaurant right before the Chesters and takes the last of the lobsters. Their luxurious rental turns out to be a wrong address. Their actual rental is a rundown beach house. Jack rents a boat and crashes into Pellet. The rivalry gets even worst when Pellet buys the rental house and throws the Chesters out. Jack challenges him in a yacht race using restaurant owner Scully (Rip Torn)'s old decommissioned boat.On the page, Jack is boorish and rather clueless. He's a sitcom dad and could have been a rather tired caricature. The difference between the page and the screen is John Candy. He is absolutely charming. He is the engine that drives this boat and Carl Reiner knows it. The kids and the wife have only a few sections by themselves without Jack. This is a silly 80s comedy which is elevated by Candy.

Jack (John Candy) has been an air traffic control for 13 years. Maybe it is bad luck, for the stress is finally getting to him and, when he mistakes a fly on his screen for an airplane, he is called into the office. He MUST take a four week vacation or be let go. Naturally, with a wife and three kids, he doesn't want to lose his position! So, its vacay time, to the delight of his family. From Atlanta, the group decides to travel to a resort city in Florida. When they arrive at the rental home, their good fortune is almost beyond belief. The house, on the water, is large with every amenity. All are thrilled. Yet, there are problems. Almost immediately, Jack has a run in with a local rich big wig, Al (Richard Crenna) who despises temporary renters. Then, folks try to break into the house one night. But, alas, they are the home owners, who quickly point out that Jack has the wrong address! Fortunately, they don't press charges if all go immediately. As can be expected, the correct rental address is a rundown shack with heavy beach traffic. Then, too, Al is able to bump Jack's loved ones to a lower place on a restaurant wait list and eats the last lobsters available. In a huff, Jack and the troop go to Scully's (Rip Torn) smaller place where they make friends and have a great meal. In fact, Scully teaches Jack how to sail. This becomes important as Jack challenges Al to winning a local sail race. Can the renter get his revenge on the snooty Al? This is a fun film, made better, naturally, because of Candy's great talents. Watching him chase unwelcome guests out of his rental house, on crutches, is pretty funny. Crenna, Torn, and all of the others do funny work as well. In addition, the beach setting is lovely while the script has plenty of hijinks and laughs. An energetic direction completes the picture. This was the first film I ever bought on video and when I "re-found" it the other day, I was happy. Nearly 30 years later, its still a very entertaining film for all.

A great family movie. It's one of John Candy's forgotten bests... he plays a stressed out father trying to make the best for his family. The family are great and Rip Torn plays an excellent pirate fabrication. John Larroquette is also there for some reason. It's predictable, it's disjointed, it's sappy and it's over too quickly. Worth a watch as a study of inoffensiveness and cheezy 80s synth-pop. Completes a Candy collection, but don't forget the others.Odd that it feels like filler and complete at the same time.IMDb needs more, so here's a quote from Neitzche: And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.

The 1980s saw a glut of disaster-vacation comedies – "National Lampoon's Vacation", "National Lampoon's European Vacation", "The Great Outdoors" and "Summer Rental" are just four that spring to mind. A common factor between most of these films is that many of them feature John Candy. He had just a short cameo in "National Lampoon's Vacation", and had to share the comic honours with Dan Akroyd in "The Great Outdoors"…. but "Summer Rental" is very much a starring vehicle for big John, and he is the best thing about this otherwise very obvious and predictable beachfront farce.Overworked air traffic controller Jack Chester (John Candy) is ordered by his superiors to take a little time off after losing his nerve one day at work. Jack takes the opportunity to travel down to Florida for a summer vacation with his family – beautiful wife Sandy (Karen Austin), blossoming daughter Jennifer (Kerri Green), cheeky son Bobby (Joey Lawrence) and toddler Laurie (Aubrey Jene). Almost from the moment they arrive the vacation is a catalogue of disasters. Jack falls asleep on the beachfront and gets heavily sunburnt; the holiday home they think they've rented turns out to belong to someone else and they find themselves in a run-down shack instead; Jennifer starts getting a little too friendly with the local lifeguards; etc. etc. Jack also crosses swords with local playboy Al Pellet (Richard Crenna), little suspecting that Pellet actually owns the holiday home in which his family is staying. When Pellet orders the family to leave they are devastated, but Jack comes up with the idea of challenging Pellet by betting that he can defeat him in the annual sailing regatta. Problem is that Jack doesn't even have a boat, but he solves this by persuading local restaurateur Scully (Rip Torn) to convert his floating restaurant so that it can be used in the race!This is Candy's film and he comes across affably as the parent whose determination to please his family usually ends in disaster. Austin is very attractive as his wife (surprising that she never went on to enjoy much of a career), while Crenna has obvious fun as the obnoxious playboy. Torn rounds off the principal players in a typically hammy but occasionally amusing role as a one-handed, piratical restaurant owner. "Summer Rental" loses marks in the script and story department because it's so thin and obvious. We've seen variations on this basic concept time and again, and the writers (Jeremy Stevens and Mark Reisman) and director (Carl Reiner) make no attempts to freshen up the familiar material. Also, the film's contrived climax is so improbable and sentimental that it provokes more groans than smiles. At least "Summer Rental" is a short film, so even when it slips into its periodic mawkishness it never really outstays its welcome. It's one of those films that you'll watch, you smile at from time to time, and then you'll forget.