Didn't do much for me

Rating: 4/10 (18 June 2011)

I do like Bill Murray and I love John Candy, so I thought this could be at least a decent film. But I found it uneven and it just didn't do much for me. The film is well made, the score is wonderful, Warren Oates is excellent and there is evidence of good direction. But here come the downsides, overall I just didn't find it funny. The script does have weaknesses feeling rather sporadic and ramshackle in the laughs, complete with jokes that feel forced and flat, and while the story starts off well the second half has a change of tone into a kind of a very generic action film that jarred with the rest of the movie and some scenes especially the mud-wrestling match and any scene involving PJ Soles and Sean Young that fell short on credibility. Oates is great, the other acting isn't that good in my opinion, Bill Murray plays a very obnoxious and unlikeable character and unfortunately he isn't very funny which is sad, Harold Ramis' character is interesting but is rarely built upon, both John Candy and Judge Reinhold with some weak scenes and dialogue are dull sadly and the best said about John Laroquette the better. All in all, has the odd bright spot but I was left cold. 4/10 Bethany Cox