“Son in Law” feels like a familiar movie. An odd duck (Pauly Shore) is brought out of the big city to spend a holiday weekend with a down home family, and hijinx ensue. And while the movie’s opening features its female lead leaving the warmth of her midwest family to start school in L.A., this is not a college movie. It has laughs, and warmth, and is serious when it needs to be. If you’re not a fan of Pauly Shore, you’ll probably want to skip the rest of this review and rent something else. But most others should get some enjoyment out of this film.
“Son in Law” features set pieces we’ve seen before, coupled with a likable cast and interesting soundtrack. It’s early scenes are meant to show the way Rebecca (Carla Gugino) feels out of place at her new school, misses her family, and just wants to go home. The movie’s script is smart though, and uses the opportunity for Shore (playing a party animal on the 6 year plan named Crawl) to dole out some sage advice. “You’re not even here yet,” he challenges Rebecca when she tell shim she doesn’t fit in. “You’re still back there.”
We see some fun scenes of Rebecca’s transformation from shy down home girl to popular college girl, such as buying new clothes on Rodeo drive to rollerblading along Venice Beach. Not before long, it’s time for Rebecca to go home for Thanksgiving break. She brings along Crawl, her new friend, to meet her family and Crawl (with his wild wardrobe and even wilder hair) fits in as you would expect.
The cast that rounds out this movie mostly works, and its a credit that director Steve Rash (who also helmed “Can’t Buy Me Love”) was able to foster the chemistry amongst them that he did. As Crawl, Shore is a lovable goof, and his character just works. He gets along easily with Rebecca’s younger brother (Patrick Renna), and even works his way into the family’s heart after he gets his hands dirty on their farm and even aides Rebecca’s grandfather during a heart attack.
We also see a good performance from Rebecca’s father, Walter, played warmly by Lane Smith of “Lois and Clark” fame. He gets rightly upset when Crawl destroys his fence and costs him a thousand dollar’s worth of damages while trying to operate a tractor, but along the way becomes Crawl’s ally in unlikely ways.
Aside him, Cindy Pickett plays his wife Connie, and it is here that we see “Son in Law’s” charm, particularly in scenes where Crawl gets her to come out of her shell, spice up her wardrobe, and put some excitement back in to her marriage. Upon seeing his wife’s new look, Connie asks, “You like?” “Oh I like,” Walter replies. Underneath it all, “Son in Law” is less a rambunctious comedy such as “Step Brothers” or “Old School,” and is more akin to Tom Shadyac’s “Liar Liar” or “Bruce Almighty.” It’s frequently hysterical and comic, but knows how to be sweet in needed and believable ways.
There are some side plots here, such as how Crawl comes between Rebecca and her old boyfriend Travis (Dan Gauthier), as well as the introduction of “Saved By The Bell’s” Tiffani Amber-Theissen as an old friend Tracy, but I won’t spoil the film by saying more about this for those who haven’t seen it. A farm hand (Dennis Burkley), and Mason Adams as Rebecca’s grandfather, round out the cast.
At the end of the day, “ Son in Law” is not perfect but succeeds due to its quaintness and familiarity. The film was released in 1993 and feels like it, especially amidst a sea of comedies in our modern era that have lost some sweetness in favor of over the top antics or raunchiness. “Son in Law” is a throwback to movies that had fun while not going over the top, even if the film wanders a bit and follows an all-too-familiar formula.
The bottom line? If you want to laugh, you’ll probably enjoy “Son in Law.” You’re not going to find anything new here, but you’ll smile and won’t feel like your intelligence is being insulted in the process. Maybe that’s enough.
– by Mark Ziobro
