Summer Rental
Tags: comedy, adult comedy

Plot synopsis:
Overworked air traffic controller Jack Chester (Candy) is given four paid weeks off as an alternative to being fired after nearly causing a mid-air collision on the job and having an outburst over what turned out to be a fly covering a radar blip. He uses this time off to take his wife Sandy and children Jennifer, Bobby, and Laurie on a summer vacation from the Atlanta area to the Gulf Coast resort town of Citrus Cove, Florida, where they are beset by a never-ending barrage of problems. First they are bumped out of the front of the line of an upscale seafood restaurant in favor of arrogant local sailing champion Al Pellet, who becomes Jack's main nemesis throughout the film. Then the family misreads the address, moves into the wrong house, and are forced to leave in the middle of the night, ending up in a decrepit shack on a public beach with a constant stream of beach-goers tromping through. Jack then receives a leg injury that prevents him from spending time with his family.
Later, Jack again locks horns with Pellet, the owner of the dubious piece of real estate where the Chesters are staying after the previous owner died. Jack gives Pellet the check for $1,000 to cover the rent for the next two weeks, but Pellet tears up the check and orders the Chesters to leave the house when their first two weeks expire or he'll throw them out personally.
To avoid an early eviction, Jack challenges Pellet to a race at the upcoming Citrus Cove Regatta: If Pellet wins, Jack will pay him the $1,000 rent and take his family home; if Jack wins, he keeps the money and earns the right to stay in the house for two more weeks rent-free. Pellet scoffs at the notion that Jack could ever defeat him in a race, but accepts the challenge. However, Jack hasn't sailed for many years and doesn't even have a boat. Scully, a local saloon keeper with a pirate's mentality whom the Chesters met earlier, befriends Jack and volunteers to help him on both counts.
The bored Chesters come to life by helping Jack make his new vessel seaworthy. This motley crew is at first no match for Pellet or anybody else in the race, but tossing useless garbage overboard, a strong breeze and a large pair of pants enable Jack to enjoy a victory at sea.

Review: "Summer Rental" is a very pleasant comedy vehicle from director Carl Reiner and star John Candy.
Candy stars as Jack Chester, an air traffic controller under alot of stress.
The funniest part of "Summer Rental" is the opening 5 minutes, with Candy exhibiting the kind of stress that causes his superiors to suggest a vacation.
The film loses a little of its comic edge in the second half, when Candy takes up sailing and tries to win a bet against one of the locals, an obnoxious yachtsman played gamely by Richard Crenna.
Still, "Summer Rental" is a nice little movie, with the late John Candy giving one of his better leading performances.
Karen Austin is very good as Candy's supportive wife Sandy; a very young Joey Lawrence (several years before "Blossom", back when he was starring on Nell Carter's '80s sitcom "Gimme A Break!") shines as Candy's son Bobby; Rip Torn is somewhat amusing as Scully, owner of a local restaurant on a boat who becomes Candy's good friend; and "Night Court's" John Larroquette also makes an appearence in a bit part.
"Summer Rental" is one of director Reiner's better films, and it gets to show off Candy's considerable comic talents that are sorely missed today.*** (out of four).
There's no violence, no crude sexual comedy, just the legendary John Candy doing what he did best.
John Candy is surely one of the best comics of the past 30 years, pulling this move together..
John Candy and Carl Reiner: what could be a better combo?.
For most of his career, John Candy played a bunch of rather silly roles that - while they were completely goofy - were great nevertheless.
Candy plays overworked air traffic controller Jack Chester, who takes his family on vacation in Florida.
Finally, Jack and his family decide to take one last chance to restore their dignity.I will admit that "Summer Rental" is pretty much a big excuse to be silly, but you gotta love it.
John Candy's wit and humor shines through as Jack Chester, the over worked air traffic controller who reluctantly takes a vacation to the beach with his family.
The laughs keep coming as Jack and his family spend the summer at the beach with many mishaps occurring throughout the movie.
We've watched this movie many times, but we still laugh and feel good when the movie ends.
I thoroughly enjoy watching this movie every time they show it on Comedy Central or USA or TNT.
This movie is classic John Candy all the way.
Candy has scenes, no matter how many I times I watch, that make me laugh so hard I fall from my chair.
Sure the story may be weak and a little corny with the whole boat race but it ranks up there among my favorites.It has some other memorable moments including Rip Torn's character of Scully.
This is one movie that shows how your summer vacation all goes wrong.
John Candy plays Jack Chester, an over-worked man who decides to bring his family on vacation...and fails miserably.
SUMMER RENTAL is one of the best comedies that John Candy ever did.
Typical John Candy film.
Either way, Candy rises above the material and makes the film fun to watch, but not necessarily a great film by any means.
I saw SUMMER RENTAL on cable one night and thought that it was pretty funny so I decided to rent it.
John Candy is really great in this movie and it's not too crude or vulgar like most comedies from the 1980's are.
His whole presence in the movie is totally pointless and I suspect there was a whole 'Candy's wife may be cheating on him' plot that was cut out because it just too similar Chase/D'Angelo in Vacation.We never know what happens to Richard Crenna or Rip Torn after the Regatta and we never know how the rest of the Summer Rental went.
It's like the writers knew there was no plot, chucked in this Regatta crap and thought that would be a good place to end the film when it's over.
I found that pretty weird.Although I have already made comparisons to Vacation I still feel like this film is good enough without being a copycat movie.
Candy feels more like a real guy who needs a real vacation.
I miss John Candy and wish he made more movies before he died..
A Good John Candy Film.
John Candy is despondent about his chances in a yacht race, and tells his daughter "You can't win them all".
At this moment in the film you feel all the pain ever felt by anyone who ever wanted to win just one time and show the world they could.
He knows his limits and accepts them, but this one time wants to rise above them and prove his worth.Candy is an overstressed air traffic controller who takes an enforced vacation with his family, and has a summer of things go wrong.
John Candy did that in Planes Trains And Automobiles and it was one of the finest acting jobs that I have ever seen in a movie.
In Summer Rental John gives what I would consider one of his "typical" performances.
Richard Crenna and Rip Torn are both wonderful character actors and both give Candy able support.
This is one of those films that doesn't carry an important social message, the idea is that you should just leave your brain and social conscience at the door of the cinema and just relax and have a good time watching a true comic giant at work.
Considering the current state of our world and the current state of "comedy", almost 10 years after his untimely death, I think we need John Candy now more then ever before..
The first half of "Summer Rental" is fun, with a stressed out John Candy, at the beach.
Unfortunately the rest of the movie involves a contrived sailing race with Richard Crenna playing the, all too typical, snob competition.
Compared to some of Candy's misfires like "Armed and Dangerous", this is a success, but one or two great scenes are unfortunately stretched between a lot of weak material.
Jack Chester (John Candy) is an over-stressed 13-year air traffic controller.
Jack challenges him in a yacht race using restaurant owner Scully (Rip Torn)'s old decommissioned boat.On the page, Jack is boorish and rather clueless.
Vacation on the shores of St. Petersburg with John Candy.
John Candy plays Jack Chester, a burnout air traffic controller in 1985's "Summer Rental," where he takes his family to the beaches of St. Petersburg for some r & r.
While the family has fun, they also clash with a champion yachtsman (Richard Crenna) and settle their differences in a sailboat race.Candy's always good as a comedic every-man and Karen Austin and Kerri Green shine as female eye candy (so you get the best of both worlds – older babe and younger babe, lol).
Rip Torn plays the pirate-like companion that helps Chester compete.
Summer Rental is a classic Candy that has its place amoung the 80's best..
This softly Romantic Comedy about a man's quest to find his lost youth, set right the wrongs of his life, save his family, and owe yah get away from it all, is a movie worthy of anybody who's life isn't exactly as planned.
Starring John Candy, in role only he could play, this 80's flick has the perfect balance of romance, comedy, drama, and the ocasional action sequence.
Candy gives his best shot at a humdrum movie..
John Candy sure wasn't having a whole lot of fun during his free time, and neither will you and I.
SUMMER RENTAL is a relatively harmless "family" comedy with unexpected situations that can go haywire or just perfectly normal.
The Funniest John Candy movie ever!.
John Candy plays Jack Chester, an highly burned out air-traffic controller who takes his family out to Florida for a vacation.
Great cast they got there John Laroquette of "Night Court" along with his first season co-star Karen Austin playing Candy's wife.
Joey Lawrence of "Gimme a Break!" Plenty of casts, plenty of fun, I enjoyed this movie whether it's a keeper or a rental.
The first time I was impressed by the comedy of the late great John Candy and the beauty of Kristen Dunn (Goonies).
Unfortunately the film is running on fumes after only an hour and the writers resort to a boat race to pad out the running time.
Ah, well, aside from those quibbles this makes for a good "Summer-video-Rental" but works in the off-season as well..
I think it is good film for this, to watch peoples paying with fun, meeting adventures, this is the kind of thing.
John Candy, Karen Austin and their children decide to take a vacation at the beach and end up getting into all sorts of wild situations.
Candy has a plan though to get even with Crenna by winning a sailing contest with the help of run-down restaurant owner Rip Torn and the restaurant itself.
John Candy fans will appreciate the film more than others.
Be honest, do you think a movie with John Candy can be a masterpiece?
Together with his wife played by Karin Austin and kids go to California and of course everything turns out wrong...and then after 40 minutes you should switch of your telly cos that's the best part and quite hilarious in pure Richard Pryorstyle but then darkness fall when Candy decides to take part on some sailingcontest as he found some old pirates who are giving him their pirateship (normally a fishrestaurant) to use.
Rip Torn as an old and real buccaneer pirate, hook for a hand and all, is completely wasted here, delivering such a fine performance, way above his peers, with the exception of Crenna, who isn't bad either.
This one, like Candy's Esky is a drippy, lazy comedy, that falls pretty weak, and when stacked up Carl Reiner's next flick, Summer School, two years later, that fared much better, this director truly redeemed himself.
Burned out air-traffic controller Jack Chester (John Candy) takes his wife Sandy (Karen Austin), teenage daughter Jennifer (Kerri Green), son Bobby (Joey Lawrence) and younger daughter Laurie (Aubrey Jene) to Florida for some much needed rest and relaxation, where, after a series of mildly amusing mishaps that threaten to spoil the vacation, they pull together as a family to settle a feud with an obnoxious local yachtsman (Richard Crenna).This mid '80s John Candy vehicle starts off very much in the style of National Lampoon's Vacation, with a series of comedic episodes in which Candy's well-meaning character repeatedly comes a cropper.
The second half of the film introduces a classic underdogs storyline that, while not exactly original or particularly funny, provides lots of wholesome, feel-good entertainment guaranteed to put a smile on the face.Candy is his usual affable self and handles the material like a pro, Austin looks uncannily like Vacation's Beverly D'Angelo (which I suspect was deliberate, given the film's other similarities), Crenna is suitably loathsome, and jail-bait Green, teen up-skirt queen of '85, doesn't flash her knickers, but does look rather fine in her bikini.
Rip Torn also puts in a fun turn as pirate restaurateur Scully, who teaches Jack a thing or two about sailing.Profanity and nudity are at a minimum (a running joke about a woman's breast implants is as rude as it gets, and she is only ever seen topless from behind), while a potential sub-plot about Sandy cheating with another man is notably dropped (one can definitely feel its presence), making the film suitable viewing for the whole family..
Fun but not John Candy's best.
It's strange to see an extremely young Joey Lawrence who plays the annoying brother opposite Kerri Green (The Goonies).Humor .5 Visual gags .5 Family fun 1 John Candy 1 Acting .5 80's memories 14.5 out of 6.
It's one of John Candy's forgotten bests...
The family are great and Rip Torn plays an excellent pirate fabrication.
I honestly played that part back several times where J Candy fly swats the window where the kid appears.
John Candy is superb in his best performance ever.
Movies such as this are an all time classic and many like to watch over and over.
John Candy became my favorite actor and I love every movie he ever made.
Summer Rental is a decent family movie that any age can watch and enjoy as a family.
Good John Candy movie!.
This is a classic John Candy movie in My opinion.Richard Crenna and Rip Torn are also in it!I don't want to spoil it but here is just a sample of what's funny in this movie!The eggs in the car,the woman that got breast surgery,the restaurant scenes with Crenna and Candy,all of the beach scenes,and last but not least the heavy set belching smurf watching man!This is a good John Candy movie that I recommend!.
Not one of John Candy's best films (nor Carl Reiner's for that matter) but still worth seeing for a few amusing lines.
Richard Crenna gives a good performance as the typical jerk and Rip Torn does his best "Captain McCalister" impression.
Being one who has experienced the family vacation, I was fairly sure this was to be a good film for me.
I commend John Candy for doing his best to make something of this film.
This is a movie about a family that goes on a vacation and rents a beach house.
A common factor between most of these films is that many of them feature John Candy.
but "Summer Rental" is very much a starring vehicle for big John, and he is the best thing about this otherwise very obvious and predictable beachfront farce.Overworked air traffic controller Jack Chester (John Candy) is ordered by his superiors to take a little time off after losing his nerve one day at work.
Jack takes the opportunity to travel down to Florida for a summer vacation with his family  beautiful wife Sandy (Karen Austin), blossoming daughter Jennifer (Kerri Green), cheeky son Bobby (Joey Lawrence) and toddler Laurie (Aubrey Jene).
Jack also crosses swords with local playboy Al Pellet (Richard Crenna), little suspecting that Pellet actually owns the holiday home in which his family is staying.
Problem is that Jack doesn't even have a boat, but he solves this by persuading local restaurateur Scully (Rip Torn) to convert his floating restaurant so that it can be used in the race!This is Candy's film and he comes across affably as the parent whose determination to please his family usually ends in disaster.
Suddenly, their vacation turns into a not so pleasant experience.Jack Chester, who has made a good friend in Scully, the owner of The Barnacle, wants to rent one of the boats to teach his young son how to sail.
Little does he know who he is racing against!Carl Reiner directed this 1984 film.
He was lucky in having John Candy, a wonderful comedy actor to star in it.
The whole thing is a tribute to the late Mr. Candy, a man who died too soon, as proved by this film, that although is not one of the best that both the director, or its star made, it has some sunny moments.
Rip Torn and Richard Crenna, appear as Scully and Pellet..
The three stars are only because John Candy turned in a very game effort and was actually quite funny, only to be undone by one of the most preposterous plots ever.
The talents of Richard Crenna and Rip Torn are completely wasted, and I'm still trying to figure out what the John Larroquette character was all about.
It's one thing to direct a flop, but it's another to lend your support to something as astonishingly stupid as the second-half boat race in this film.
Warning: If you must watch this movie turn it off the second the boats line up for the regatta..
"Good 80's Summer Comedy!".
John Candy, Richard Crenna, Rip Torn, Karen Austin, Kerri Green, Joey Lawrence and John Larroquette star in Carl Reiner's 1985 comedy.
Jack Chester (Candy) is a burnt-out, air traffic controller who decides to take a vacation with his wife, Sandy (Austin), son, Bobby (Lawrence) and daughters, Jennifer, (Green) and Laurie (Aubrey Jene).
Crenna (First Blood) plays Al Pellet, a wealthy snob who is also a 7-year boat race champion, Torn (Defending Your Life) plays Scully, Captain and restaurant owner of "The Barnacle" and Larroquette (Blind Date) plays Don Moore, a nice guy who befriends The Chesters.
This is a good 80's flick and Candy & the cast are great in it.
Jack Chester, an overworked air traffic controller, takes his family on vacation to the beach.
Jack ends up in a feud with a local yachtsman, and has to race him to regain his pride and family's respect.....It's the eighties, John Candy is the head of the family, and they go on holiday, and bump into special guest star Richard Crenna, and you get exactly what you would expect, a fun breezy comedy were Candy gets into all kinds of hi jinks.Things go awry when Candy puts a hole in Crennas boat and he forces them to move out of their summer home.
We've got one joke to pull, and that should do it!" John Candy gets the director's rapt attention at all times.
"Summer Rental" Rent -a- Laugh..
In 1985,this was the first John candy movie I paid to see and all i can say over 20 years later is it's still as funny as it was then.
That and encouraging Candy to feel if they seem real.The end of the boat race is very predictable,you know John & family are going to win.
I guess it could be a simple fun film to watch (which it is)but for a comedy with a talent like John Candy,it's so-so.
Jack (John Candy) has been an air traffic control for 13 years.
This is a fun film, made better, naturally, because of Candy's great talents.