The Great Outdoors is the story of two families on vacation. One family is down to earth, the other are snobs. Mixing the two makes for a great combination. Chet Ripley brings his family up to the Great North Woods for vacation and to relive his and his wife's honeymoon. Little does he know that his brother-in-law invite himself, his wife, and his twin daughters to join in the fun.
As has become my custome, I will list my favorite scenes. Usually there are only three, but with this movie it's very difficult to pick just three.
My absolute favorite scene is the scene in which John Candy's character, Chet Ripley, is pulled all across the lake on skies. The scene starts when he is trying to teaching his son, Ben, the basics of water skiing. Chet is wearing the skis and holding the tow rope; at one point Chet waves to Roman, played by Dan Aykroyd, who takes the wave to mean that Chet will take the first trip around the lake. The whole scene is amazing when you see an overweight man being dragged, against his will, all over a lake... it is one of the most hilarious scenes of the movie. Chet even ends up on one ski!
The next scene I like is when the two families go out to eat one night. At the restaurant they are ordering their dinners and Chet sees the entry for the "Old 96'er", a 96 lb steak. The restaurant has a "contest" that if any one that orders it and finishes the whole meal is on the house. Chet orders the "Old 96'er" and does very well. He finishes eating all the meat, but the cook says he hasn't finished. Chet has to eat the gristle and fat as well. It isn't shown, but it is assumed that Chet eats the remaining items on the plate. When the two families get home some raccoon get into the house to get at the garbage. Roman points out that there are a lot of maggots, especially on the meat, which causes Chet to run to the bathroom to throw up.
I also liked the scene when Roman's twin daughters go off to the abandoned mine during a rain storm and fall down the shaft. Chet and Roman go looking for the girls after not finding them in the house. Locating the girls in the mine, Chet returns to the cabin for some rope, while Roman stays behind. Roman rescues his daughters without help from Chet and returns to the cabin. Chet returns to the mine, thinking that Roman and the girls are still inside, throws the rope down hoping to help. Unfortuately, Chet helps a bear escape the mine, which chases him back to the cabin. The bear happens to be the same bear that Chet told a story of earlier in the movie. The resort owner arrives and shoots the bear, not fatally or even wounding it much, just taking off the hair from it's butt.
The other scenes I like are a collection of scenes involving a character named Cammie, played by Lucy Deakins. Cammie is a local girl who tries to keep vacationers at arms length, but Buck, Chet's oldest son, falls for her, and she for him. The first time we see Cammie, Buck and Ben are playing pool. Buck leans down for a shot at the same time Cammie does at the next table. Buck's pool stick ends up going between Cammie's legs from behind. Cammie feels the stick and whips around to confront Buck, sending the stick flying. It's not a hilarious scene, but a pretty good scene nonetheless. I like it because I think Lucy Deakins is a pretty woman, she has the sweet, girl next door look.
I give this 8 out of 10 stars because it is pretty funny. John Hughes did a fantastic job of putting this movie together.
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