Ah, The Great Outdoors.

This movie stars John Candy as Chet Ripley, some doofus with an equally doofed-out family of a wife and children with awful haircuts. They take a vacation to some shithole in the north (where, exactly is never mentioned). Upon getting there, their vacation is crashed by Chet's rich prick brother-in-law Roman (Dan Aykroyd) and his equally boring family (including Annette Bening in her first movie ever). Eventually, a bunch of zany crap goes down and they find themselves parting not as enemies, and not just friends, but roommates. Yes, you read that right. You've gotta hand it to John Hughes for writing that plot twist, fourth-wall breaker that he is.

The movie’s humor primarily relies on the dichotomy created by Candy and Aykroyd's characters. Chet, a modest, loving family man, wants to spend time with his family up in the boonies. Roman, a loud, Benz-driving asshole, has a strong disdain for his family and everyone else. Most scenes revolve heavily around this schism. Consider a scene in which the families are deciding what to eat for a cookout. Chet wants to eat hot dogs, but – get this – Roman wants to eat LOBSTER! That rich dope! When will he ever learn?

Later, a quarrel springs up over what type of boat to take on the lake. Chet wants to rent a pontoon boat and is immediately criticized by Roman, who wants to rent a wicked jet boat. Do you see where this is going? You can't fake writing talent of this caliber. Of course, Chet caves into the jet idea and suffers a hee-larious mishap when the plans go awry!

Eventually, after Chet consumes a giant steak, more hijinks ensue when we learn that Roman is actually broke, and has been intending to finagle Chet and his family out of their money. During this poignant scene, everyone fights, but then miraculously bands together to fight off a giant bear that was previously foreshadowed in a scary story told by Chet.

Overall, Aykroyd and Candy turn in decent performances, as does the old dude who is in like every ‘80s movie, who in this plays the front desk guy at the cabin rented by Chet and company. Despite these stellar examples of acting, the movie's jokes are few and far between. If you like your plot cliché and your jokes sparse, or if you want to see a man eat a six pound steak, check it out. If not, watch ANYTHING else.-g