Son in Law (1993) Hollywood/Comedy RT: 95 minutes Rated PG-13 (elements of sensuality, language, drug material, brief violence) Director: Steve Rash Screenplay: Fax Bahr, Adam Small and Shawn Schepps Music: Richard Gibbs Cinematography: Peter Deming Release date: July 2, 1993 (US) Cast: Pauly Shore, Carla Gugino, Lane Smith, Cindy Pickett, Mason Adams, Patrick Renna, Dennis Burkley, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Dan Gauthier. Box Office: $36.4M (US)
Rating: ***
I know it’s not saying much, but Son in Law is definitely Pauly Shore’s finest work. Granted, a lot of things look great when compared to In the Army Now, Jury Duty and Bio-Dome (which I personally like), but even so it’s a pretty good fish out of water comedy. In it, Shore takes his act to a farm in South Dakota. Forget the farmer in the dell; try the farmer is a dude, buuuuddy.
So what brings Shore’s character Crawl to the Mount Rushmore State? I’ll get to that in a minute. First, I need to explain about Rebecca (Gugino, Troop Beverly Hills), a fish out of water herself. A freshman at Cal State living in a co-ed dorm, it’s the farm girl’s first time away from home. Talk about getting an education, she learns that Southern California life is dramatically different from life in her small town. Feeling alone, she’s about to hang it up when resident advisor Crawl offers to help. He helps her adjust to her new life with a complete makeover- i.e. hip clothes, haircut, blonde dye job and an ankle tat. Like her artwork, she’s a butterfly newly emerged from her cocoon.
Upon learning that her friend plans to stay on campus alone for Thanksgiving break, Rebecca invites Crawl to come home with her and celebrate Turkey Day with her family- dad Walter (Smith, Air America), mom Connie (Pickett, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), little brother Zack (Renna, The Sandlot) and grandfather Pappy (Adams, F/X). Not only are they shocked by Rebecca’s new look, they’re horrified by Crawl and his unique mannerisms. He’s not to going to fit in, but he’ll sure give it a try. If you ever wanted to see Pauly Shore in a pair of chaps, this is your chance.
Did I mention that Rebecca has a boyfriend back home? She does. His name is Travis (Gauthier, Teen Witch) and they’ve been going together for several years. He plans to pop the question over Thanksgiving break and Rebecca is freaked out. She’s not ready to get married yet. Looking to her friend for help after Travis proposes, Crawl announces that they’re already engaged to each other. As you can imagine, the news goes over like a lead balloon. It’s a ruse, of course, one that they plan to keep up until after they return to campus.
In order to get into Walter’s good graces, Crawl announces he’d like to go into the family business. After all, how hard is it to be a farmer? Crawl is about to find out the hard way it involves a lot of hard work. It involves livestock, machinery and (naturally) manure. After all, what would a farm comedy be without manure? I’d say a rerun of Green Acres. Did they have manure jokes on that show? I honestly don’t know.
Much of Son in Law centers on Crawl’s efforts to endear himself to his “fiancee’s” family. He bonds with Zack over their shared love of computer hacking. He helps Connie get her groove back with Walter. He even tries to save Pappy’s life with CPR after he has a heart episode while fishing. I guess it worked. By the end, they’re all talking like him- e.g. “Let’s chow down and munch on some grindage.” (Walter at Thanksgiving dinner) In any event, I like this aspect of Son in Law very much.
I love that Son in Law is so good-natured. Director Steve Rash (Can’t Buy Me Love) avoids the temptation to be mean-spirited about the small town folk and their ways. When Crawl makes jokes about inbreeding, it doesn’t sound cruel or condescending. Yes, Travis is a first-class jerk who plays a mean trick on Crawl with the help of rough farmhand Theo (Burkley, Mask). He’s also cheating on Rebecca with her high school friend Tracy (Theissen, Saved by the Bell). He’s a heel that will surely get his comeuppance by movie’s end. Even with that, Son in Law is a nice feel-good movie.
Like I already said, Son in Law is Shore’s best movie. He does what he does best, he acts like Pauly Shore. This entails howling and hollering and acting silly a lot. On the ride home from the airport, he stands in the bed of the pickup loudly singing the Green Acres theme. He’s also a genuinely nice guy who tries to make friends with everybody even through all the funny looks they give him. Crawl doesn’t judge, that’s a rare quality in any time. Gugino is HOT! She’s also talented. She’s convincing as a sweet naïve girl trying to find herself after years of being sheltered. Renna is a hoot as the obnoxious little brother with a thing for “nugs”. Really, the whole cast does a fine job. I have no complaints in this area.
Most importantly, Son in Law is funny, very funny. I’ve seen it a few times including twice at the movies and I never get tired of it. It’s one of those comedies that leave you in a good mood afterwards. It has so many good scenes, but my favorite is the square dance where Crawl grabs the mike and does his own thing. If you ever wanted to see an old cowboy musician do a stage dive, this is your chance. There’s also a great cameo by a fellow Encino Man star.
Humor is relative, but I have a feeling you’ll like Son in Law if you give it a chance. That is, unless you actively hate Shore and there’s many that do. In that instance, I’d advise you to stay far, far away.
