Movie

The Great Outdoors

1988 · 91 min

A broad, sunny family-vacation comedy built on bickering in-laws, physical gags and a rampaging bear, easy to watch and gently warm.

Tagline: This is no holiday… this is war!
Overview: It's vacation time for outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley, along with his wife, Connie, and their two kids, Buck and Ben. But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie's obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig, his wife, Kate, and the couple's two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family.

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: lightstrength 3 of 3
warmstrength 2 of 3
absurdstrength 2 of 3
satiricalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing: brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: family
class
identity
parenthood
betrayal
Places: countryside
single country house
Era: contemporary
Audience: family
Form: ensemble
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	3
Horror	1
Humour	8
Realism	6
Romance	2
Tension	3
Darkness	2
Complexity	2
Emotional weight	3

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Where to watch in the UK

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YouTube Free

Rent or buy

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Details

Genres: comedy
Directed by: Howard Deutch
Written by: John Hughes
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Stephanie Faracy, Annette Bening, Chris Young, Lucy Deakins, Robert Prosky, Ian Giatti
Music: Thomas Newman
Cinematography: Robert C. Thomas, Ric Waite
Runtime: 91 min
Country: United States of America
Languages: English

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The Great Outdoors

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