SD has all the proper ingredients for a Disney Comedy.
• Teenage Kurt Russel.
• Hip 70’s music.
• Joe Flynn and Dick Van Patten.
• Lots of chances for great gags.
A psychopath named Clutch
• Mother Barlow, A old lady who acts young, plays pool, goes to the races and is able to handle a bunch of college age kids.
But then for some reason it has Bob ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ Crane in the role of the Superdad instead of Disney Greats like ‘Dean Jones’. He would have been great in this role. But Bob. Oh Bobbbb. He is the one ingredient that somewhat dampens the comedic soup of this Disney comedy. Interestingly enough both Crane and Flynn served in comedies dealing with WWII.
His character does one of two things. He is either all super serious or he is screaming like a little girl. There is no pleasant in-between personality. A total jerk or a total girlie-man. This central mis-calculation in choosing the lead role does not kill the film but it doesn’t help it either. Even though the movie is supposed to be a comedy, at times it almost seems too serious . That is not good when it is supposed to be a comedy and it is built like a comedy. Although while trying to peek into his daughters dorm room, Crane falls off a ladder onto a trampoline and does a flip into a pool and has to get bailed our of jail by his daughter. One of the more amusing scenes in the picture.
There are amusing moments and the last five minutes are some of the most beautiful moments of any wedding captured on film. I suppose the film is somewhat like a lot of people’s lives. We suffer greatly through much of it, but in the end by mercy and grace we may end of marrying God and being happy for all eternity. That is some basic Christian theology that I could explain further, but am going to just explain this film instead, although if I put some thought to it, this might be more interesting.
I had to buy this film on VHS off the cheap Amazon.com just so I could watch and review it. I’m glad I didn’t pay more then 8 bucks for it, but it would have been better to have rented it. I would have done so had it been available for renting, but alas. For a similar but funnier film, watch ‘Meet the Parents’. For a comedy, that film's gags work better. As a morality tale this surpasses it.
Some other interesting aspects of the film include….
A young City Slicking Bruno Kirby plays a delightful character who has a new job every week and who always uses the company car to take his friends out to the beach. They find time to sing some groovy songs on the way back from the a day in the sun. Bruno also gives an inspiring small discourse on Michael Angelo and the Sistine Chapel to demonstrate how valuable art is to the world when trying to convince Crane that his daughter taking an art class is not a waste of time.
The time difference. Today we watch stuff on Youtube and DVD, back then they hooked up the movie projector and watched 8 mm film on a screen. You had to call the operator to call long distance. It’s interesting to see how much has changed from the early 70’s till now. If anything, the historical aspect of the film is worth watching it for.
The Dad water ski’s in the film to impress the kids. What’s interesting about that is that it reminds me or it reminded my mom of the time I went water sking in Chebaco Lake in Hamilton, next to my home town. My mother made a deal with me as I went sking that day. If I went all the way around the lake, I wouldn’t have to pay the phone bill. I think I made it. I really don't remember. Also while watching this movie, my mother suggested that we go on Vacation together once again to Disney World. She took me there 3 times when I was younger. Once with my father. I recently went on my honeymoon there with my wife during our honeymoon.
Kurt Rullel yells out ‘FORE’ while driving by a golf course. My high school buddies Darren and Jeff used to do that all the time in high school.
At the beach you see a kid wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. That is amusing in a Disney film. It would have been more amusing had it been Bugs Bunny.
Slow dancing at a house party. Reminded me of the dances we used to have at my neighborhood friends house ‘the Glasses’.
Shows the value and importance and overall joy of lifelong close-knit friends. If this film were a Hanna-Barbara production, the kids would have solved a crime and caught a crook and there would have been some animal involved. Actually there was a St. Bernard in several scenes.
Well, now you have all you need to know about a film you most likely won’t see because it is not widely available. But if you have the chance to watch it, it might be worth it. But if you can’t ever see it, don’t worry you aren’t missing out too much and a much more super wave will be bound to hit your shores.
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