It’s vacation time for outdoorsy Chicago man Chet Ripley, along with his wife, Connie, and their two kids, Buck and Ben. But a serene weekend of fishing at a Wisconsin lakeside cabin gets crashed by Connie’s obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman Craig, his wife, Kate, and the couple’s two daughters. As the excursion wears on, the Ripleys find themselves at odds with the stuffy Craig family.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Roman Craig: Dan Aykroyd
• Chet Ripley: John Candy
• Connie Ripley: Stephanie Faracy
• Kate Craig: Annette Bening
• Buck Ripley: Chris Young
• Cammie: Lucy Deakins
• Wally: Robert Prosky
• Ben Ripley: Ian Giatti
• Cara Craig: Hilary Gordon
• Mara Craig: Rebecca Gordon
• Juanita: Zoaunne LeRoy
• Waitress: Nancy Lenehan
• Jimbo: John Bloom
• Herm: Lewis Arquette
• Reg: Britt Leach
• Boat Yard Owner: Cliff Bemis
• Hot Dog Vendor: Paul Hansen
• Dancing Biker Girl: Debra Lee Ortega
• Girl in Arcade: Sierra Somerville
• Woman in Crowd: Christine Spiotta
• Lodge Patron: Chris Bass
• Lodge Customer: Shirley Harris
• Irate Customer: Christopher Kinsman
• Grill Chef: Andy Prosky
• Man in Crowd: Brian Healy
• The Bald-Headed Bear (Jody): Bart the Bear
• Grandpa (uncredited): Raleigh Bond

Film Crew:

• Original Music Composer: Thomas Newman
• Director: Howard Deutch
• Executive Producer: John Hughes
• Editor: Seth Flaum
• Producer: Arne Schmidt
• Editor: William D. Gordean
• Executive Producer: Tom Jacobson
• Production Design: John W. Corso
• Director of Photography: Ric Waite
• Editor: Tom Rolf
• Makeup Effects: Rob Bottin
• Casting Director: Judith Weiner
• Costume Design: Marilyn Vance
• Production Manager: Charles Newirth
• Associate Producer: Stephen Lim
• Associate Producer: Elena Spiotta
• Supervising Sound Editor: Tom C. McCarthy
• Music Editor: Tom Kramer
• Set Decoration: John H. Anderson
• Sound Mixer: C. Darin Knight
• Hairstylist: Dione Taylor
• Hairstylist: Carol A. O’Connell
• Makeup Artist: Ben Nye Jr.
• Makeup Artist: Alan Friedman
• Choreographer: Kenny Ortega
• Second Unit Director: Walter Scott
• Special Effects Coordinator: John Frazier

Movie Reviews:

• Kamurai: Decent watch at best, probably won’t watch again, but can recommend for those on a late-eighties nostalgia kick.
• Sometimes it is good to get in “The Way Back Machine” and see some of the movies that made people famous, and I liked Dan Aykroyd and John Candy.
• The duplicitous plot and character choices just didn’t sit great with me. Having recently seen “Brother Nature”, it is interesting to see a movie that could have inspired it. I think it would have been a lot better with John Candy as an overwhelmingly positive buzzkill and Aykroyd playing a family man. But Candy is sort of the family man of the late 1980s, and Aykroyd is the quintessential New York scumbag, and they do it well.
• I’d ultimately say it is worth the watch, but there are probably a dozen “back to nature” movies I could recommend in front of this one.