I suspect John Candy would have been able to make any comedy into a movie worth watching. God knows I can’t imagine how bad 1985’s Summer Rental would have been without him.
This is the typical slobs vs. snobs comedy, pitting John Candy against Richard Crenna in a coastal Florida town. Crenna hates the summer renters and has won the summer sailing regatta the past seven years. Candy is an overstressed flight controller just trying to unwind for a few weeks. The climax is the regatta, where the two have a wager.
Candy has only just learned how to sail, courtesy of a hook-handed Rip Torn. Torn, as always, seems to be having a blast and most of the movie’s best scenes are where he’s paired with Candy. One of my favorite moments is where Candy asks Torn to sing an old sea shanty and they end up singing the theme from The Love Boat.
The comedy here is at about sitcom level. I find it strange Carl Reiner directed this, as the comedy legend doesn’t seem to bring anything to the movie that any hired hack couldn’t do.
There are many funny lines but the success of those lines relies heavily on Candy’s delivery like when he says to the endless stream of people cutting through their yard to the public beach, “I’m Joe Public, welcome to my beach”. He’s so miserable on vacation, he laments to his wife, “Right now, I’m wishing you were a widow”. Also, Torn’s approach really sells lines like “You’re your own ballast in that vessel”.
The other performers all fare well, but largely aren’t given decent lines. Crenna probably has the worst role as is basically in the Richard Crenna role he is stuck with whenever he’s the bad guy. He does have one bit I liked where he is insistent on signing paperwork at a funeral, closing the casket so he has a surface to write on. Also, I was surprised to see Kerri Green from The Goonies here, another movie made in 1985.
I wouldn’t usually single out a film’s soundtrack, good or bad, but this is especially bad. There’s a feature song that is used in the sailing sequence and is, ironically, the definition of “yacht rock”. But that isn’t the offender. That dishonor goes to a recurring number that I swear I have heard a great many times previously, when I have been on a phone and put on hold.
If you’re looking for escapist entertainment, you could worse than Summer Rental. When I tell you this is an 80’s class-warfare comedy that ends in a sailing challenge, you know exactly what to expect. It’s serviceable, but only John Candy puts it over the level of “fair”.
Dir: Carl Reiner
Starring John Candy, Richard Crenna, Rip Torn
Watched on Amazon Prime