One Crazy Summer (1986)

You would hope, our savage one, would be able to follow up the laughs and complete insanity of Better Off Dead. The insanity is of a lower scale, but the laughs are just not there, where intended, the gags keep missing. There are a couple of funny bits, but truthfully, I'm overriding that part. There's still a lot of originality in the slight somewhat dull film, but there's a couple of things I'd show abhor to, like dog kicking and teasing. Cusack, this time, plays Hoops who falls for Demi Moore, who's Grandfather and family are being forcibly evicted, by a boofhead tycoon, and his bully son, who hates one four letter word. His hot blonde girlfriend, Cookie, too takes interest in Hoops, where really she's just used as pretty scenery, which I'm not complaining. We have a few of the BOD cast who signed on for this one, where a couple of newbies tend to be annoying here, no more that Golthwait. The problem here, is nearly all of the gags just don't fire off, where it's last twenty minutes is very much Summer Rental'ish. There's a few repetitious traits in this one too as seen in Better Off Dead, now color cartooning, which was fun to watch, like Demi's song was good too hear. Yeah, it's a shame this self indulgent Savage product was a let down, but this is what happens mostly, and Better Off Dead, was a hard one to surpass, the bar set very high. Better Off Dead was better, a whole lot better.

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.

Savage Steve Holland wrote and directed his second film, One Crazy Summer, with John Cusack and Curtis Armstrong again in a supporting role. Cusack and Bobcat Goldthwait are recent graduates headed to Cape Cod in order to stay at Goldthwait's grandmother's for the summer. Along the way, they bump into Demi Moore being pursued by John Matuszak and a motorcycle gang. Soon the three are united in trying to save a house from being turned into another lobster restaurant by a conniving, spoiled family that considers "work" a dirty word. The film contains several funny vignettes like the millionaire dollar radio contest gags and the Godzilla skit.Like Holland's first film, Better Off Dead, John Cusack adds immeasurably to the film. Otherwise, this is a dud of a film filled with contrived situations and idiotic characters (as opposed to quirky). Moore even sings a few bars in a nightclub with some horrible synthesizers. Goldthwait's gags wear thin after awhile, and Armstrong never was an actor of any caliber to appear in anything except grade Z stuff. The tow truck twins are extremely annoying and obnoxious instead of the endearing underdogs they're obviously meant to be. This is more of a hit or miss, kitchen sink comedy which could have used a better script and direction. *1/2 of 4 stars.

I seem to notice that a lot of people have never seen this movie, and those that have usually dismiss it as garbage... that's pretty bad really.The first time I saw this movie, I admittedly was almost one of those people... thank God I'm patient, otherwise I would have never found such a classic.As goofy as this movie is, it's also a must have for anyone who is either a fan of 80's movies, or just happens to have a sense of humor.I know that there are a lot of people out there that will tell you that this movie is sort of derivative of Better Off Dead... so what if it is? They were both excellent movies!I can honestly say that Savage Steve Holland is a genius! 10/10