John Candy month: Summer Rental

A retrospective by Brooks Rich

Air traffic controller Jack Chester (John Candy) is given paid time off when he nearly causes two airline disasters. He takes his family down to Florida for a vacation. Hijinks ensue because its '80s comedy and Candy ends up challenging a pompous Richard Crenna to a yacht race to close out the summer.

This is a movie that has been forgotten to time in the grand scheme of Candy's career. Even with Carl Reiner directing it does have the same name recognition as some of Candy's other works. But I think it's a solid entry in his filmography. He plays a great everyman who we have no problem rooting for. The slobs versus snobs relationship he has with Crenna works like a charm and he genuinely seems like a good father and husband.

Candy was always great at playing both the everyman and the aloof goofball. Sometimes he'll even play both. His character of Jack Chester in this is a good example of that. At times Jack is the goofy comic relief character and others he is the straight man who is sick of all the goofiness around him. One of the best scenes in the movie is when tons of beachgoers invade their rental house as it's right on the beach access road. Candy is hilarious as Jack is both the straight man and comic relief in the scene. It's a brilliant scene and worth the price of admission alone.

As sometimes happens during these career retrospectives I am not saying this is a lost masterpiece of Candy's filmography. It is not going to stack up against films like Planes, Trains and Automobiles or Uncle Buck. But it's a solid comedy and one of my personal favorites in Candy's filmography. With Candy in the lead role and Carl Reiner behind the camera it's a solid comedy from the eighties. There's far worse films to watch. It's pretty widely available for a decent price. Give it a watch this summer. Even if it's just a rental.

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