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Rewind: In celebration of vacation
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 23, 2002
Here are a few suggestions to watch while you pack for your summer trip -- or maybe not.
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the summer vacation season. Here are a few home video selections to make you reconsider those plans:
Jaws -- Life is no day at the beach for tourists menaced by a great white shark at Amity Island. The other worst possibilities: pirate ghosts in The Island and murderous drug runners in The Deep.
Race with the Devil -- Talk about a tourist trap. Peter Fonda and Warren Oates are husbands whose road trip getaway with their wives turns deadly when they meet Satanic worshipers. Not even AAA can solve that.
Westworld -- Theme parks are really kind of creepy anyway. Michael Crichton's version is a Wild West attraction getting too wild when a robotic gunslinger (Yul Brynner) starts shooting. Don't let him near the Hall of Presidents.
What About Bob? -- Camping can take away your problems, unless they follow along like Bill Murray's hilariously neurotic patient of a psychologist (Richard Dreyfuss). Wonder what he charges for 50 minutes on a hammock?
Don't Drink the Water -- Jackie Gleason learned his lesson when a European vacation got his movie family arrested for spying, taking shelter in the American Embassy. Sure, like that's a safe place anywhere these days.
National Lampoon's Vacation -- Everyone has a little Clark Griswold in them. Chevy Chase created his best movie character by enduring every imaginable humiliation during a road trip to Wally World. Things didn't get any better in European or Las Vegas sequels, or even at Christmas.
Summer Rental -- John Candy plays an air traffic controller finding even more stress during his time off. If the mishaps look familiar, that's because director Carl Reiner filmed Candy's bungling on St. Pete Beach in 1984.
The Great Outdoors -- Candy gives Chase a run for his money as the guy with the most rotten vacation luck. The only thing that could make his lakeside respite worse would be the arrival of his obnoxious in-laws. Can someone answer the doorbell, please?
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation -- Not even Jimmy Stewart could enjoy an easy holiday. His title character wants time alone with his wife (Maureen O'Hara) but the children tag along, griping about a rundown beach house and parental control. Be quiet, kids, or I'll just turn this movie around and go home.
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