Watch One Crazy Summer For Free

Simply Perfect

Pretty Good

Best movie ever!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

In his second feature with Savage Steve Holland (after "Better Off Dead"), actor John Cusack plays "Hoops" McCann, who's nicknamed that way because it's presumed that he'll play basketball for a living like his old man. But he'd really rather be a cartoonist. After he and his best friend George Calamari (Joel Murray) graduate from high school, George decides to try lifting Hoops' spirits by inviting him to Georges' family's home on Nantucket Island. Hoops makes the best of things, finding one thing that he likes about the location in aspiring pop singer Cassandra Eldridge (Demi Moore). Unfortunately, a piece of property belonging to Cassandra's family is due to be taken away from her by scheming developer Aguilla Beckersted (Mark Metcalf). So Hoops does everything that he can to help her out, with the help of bumbling twins Egg and Clay Stork (Bobcat Goldthwait and Tom Villard).Holland can't help but fail to quite match the inspired zaniness of "Better Off Dead" with this sophomore effort. Overall it's just not as funny or as fresh. Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't some great moments. Certainly the location is one big plus, and it's gorgeously shot by Isidore Mankofsky. Holland does include some amusing animated sequences, which he did himself. The characters are all pretty well defined, the heroes and the villains alike. (The villains aren't exactly subtle.) Cusack is engaging in the lead, and Moore is appealing as his love interest. Supporting players Murray, Curtis Armstrong (who plays a very non-"Booger" like role here), Goldthwait, and Villard are a hoot to watch; Goldthwaits' spastic shtick reaches a real zenith here. Metcalf and Matt Mulhern as his thuggish preppy son are guys whom you will love to loathe. And there are an incredible number of other familiar faces in the cast: Laura Waterbury, John Matuszak, Jeremy Piven, Billie Bird, Joe Flaherty, William Hickey, Taylor Negron, Rich Hall, Donald Li, and Rich Little.There are some delicious gags scattered throughout, such as the obvious spoofs on "Jaws", but best of all is Goldthwaits' big Godzilla scene. It's hilarious and is the highlight of the movie. Clearly Holland was enjoying himself coming up with such ridiculous character names.Never overly crude, this is an amiable "feel good" feature that, while rather predictable at its core, is still rather hard to resist.Seven out of 10.

Affable aspiring cartoonist Hoops McCann (a wonderfully engaging performance by John Cusack) and his best buddy George (the deliciously deadpan Joel Murray) go to Nantucket for the summer following graduation from high school. Hoops, George, and several newfound pals come to the aid of Cassandra (Demi Moore at her most charming), a singer who's family house is being threatened with demolition by the greedy Beckersted clan. Writer/director Savage Steve Holland offers an often hilariously wacky and zesty nonstop barrage of admittedly broad and dumb, but still very funny jokes. The constant madcap lunacy has a real giddy, good-natured and infectiously inane vitality to it that's impossible to either dislike or resist. Moreover, the lively and enthusiastic acting from a fine game cast adds immensely to the zany merriment: Bobcat Goldthwait as the spastic Egg Stork, Tom Villard as his goofy brother Clay, Curtis Armstrong as the sweet Ack Ack Raymond, Mark Metcalf as evil rich jerk Aquilla Beckersted, Matt Mulhern as the mean Teddy, Kimberly Foster as the fetching Cookie, Joe Flaherty as the gung-ho General Raymond, William Hickey as cranky Old Man Beckersted, Jeremy Piven as smug preppy bully Ty, and John Matuszak as hulking biker Stan. Isidore Mankofsky's slick cinematography, the hip thrashy soundtrack, Cory Lerios' cool rockin' score, and the funky animation are all uniformly excellent. Single funniest scene: Egg in a Godzilla suit terrorizing a posh dinner party. An absolute hoot.

I saw this movie for the first time in 1988 when it was on HBO and I loved it!! It was so hilarious I have seen it too many times to count. I love the Stork brothers and the pitiful, ugly dog, Bosco! My favorite quote form the movie is, "It's so ugly, it should be put to sleep." I also loved it when the little sister slaps the girls on the back and their faces stick that way. I love John Cusack and Demi Moore in this movie too. They were great. This movie brings back memories of my college days when I first saw it. I rented the movie countless times and watched it over and over. My college roommate and I just couldn't get enough of it.Who couldn't love this crazy movie?! I want to buy a copy on DVD, does anyone know where I can get it?

...you know something's up.The movie isn't all that bad. It's got a number of humorous moments in it. When it aired on HBO all those years ago I'd watch it to kill time, but I can't recall ever really laughing at the jokes and other gags (save the "Godzilla" scene).The film making style is professional enough, but also some what spartan, and the gags (like in "Better Off Dead") are mostly telegraphed or trumped by the characters stating the obvious. There's a distinct lack of coverage with a heavy reliance on master shots and the actors' performances to carry the scenes (again much like Holland's previous film "Better Off Dead").Historical footnote; one could call this the origins of crude humor in film, but that might be giving it too much credit.I didn't find the movie all that funny way back then, and after seeing the DVD I still don't find it all that funny. Still, it has a certain appeal to it. It's worth a night's rental to see Bobcat Goldwaith if nothing else. Not great, but a decent film all around.