It’s part III of the Pauly Shore trilogy of laughter with the Hollywood Pictures comedy, Son in Law.
Logline
Rebecca has just graduated high school and is heading off to college in California. Her small-town life on the farm is in for a shock when she meets the freedom of the West Coast. Arriving at college she is homesick, but her resident advisor, Crawl, takes her under his wing and Rebecca starts to enjoy herself.
Three months after arriving on the Pacific coast, Rebecca is going home for Thanksgiving, and feeling bad for Crawl, she invites him home. The wild child of Crawl turns Rebecca’s family upside down.
Though he befriends Rebecca’s little brother Zack easily, it takes many days for Crawl to win over Rebecca’s father and mother. When Rebecca’s boyfriend Travis tries to propose marriage, she lies and tells everyone that she and Crawl are engaged.
Playing along with the ruse, Crawl learns to embrace the small-town life, while also changing hard nosed opinions from Rebecca’s parents Walter and Connie, and her grandfather Walter Sr. The more they get to know Crawl, the more they like him, and that’s why when they learn the truth about how Travis tries to set Tracy, a friend from high school, and Crawl up, the family is willing to embrace the newcomer over the traditional boyfriend.
High Praise
Pauly Shore is funny. I have now reviewed the three films he released with Disney, and I have laughed along with each of them. They are not high-brow award winning classics, but Shore is genuinely funny, and the films hold up well since they were first released. There is a certain innocence to Shore that comes across on the screen.
Carla Gugino is funny as well. She is a great match for Shore’s antics and it’s easy to see how they bond and why Rebecca might make friends with Crawl.
Could anyone play a grumpy father in the 1990’s better than Lane Smith? I think not. Yet again, Smith brings his talent to the screen in a thankless role, that could be easily forgotten were it played by someone of less talent.
What Were They Thinking
There are multiple parts in the story that would be reworked for today’s audience. The jokes are funny, but some of them are crude and childish.
Backlot Knowledge
- Pauly Shore was nominated for Best Comedic Performance at the MTV Movie Awards in 1994.
- The film opened with over $7 million dollars in the first three days.
- The movie is supposed to be taking place during Thanksgiving, but the background setting of the film shows that they are not in fall season.
- Brendan Fraser’s character Link from Encino Man has a short cameo in the film.
- Shore’s character was originally going to be named Snake before it was changed.
- Ashley Judd auditioned for the role of Rebecca.
- The movie was originally supposed to be released in May of 1993 but was moved to July to offer counter programming to Jurassic Park and Sleepless in Seattle. Disney executives also thought with it being a summer release more teens would be able to see the film since they would be out of school at the time.
- Carla Gugino wears a blond wig in the film.
- The tattoo artist is Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers.
- Son in Law is the product of an intense legal battle between Disney and New Line over getting Pauly Shore to star in their movies. Disney won thanks to Jeffrey Katzenberg’s ‘friendly’ diplomacy with the star.
- Adam Goldberg has a small role as Indian.
Critical Response
{Snub-Skip this Film, Overexposed-Desperate for Something to Watch, Money Shot-A Perfect Film For Any Device, Magic Hour– You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Award Worthy– This Film is Cinema.}
The trilogy of Pauly Shore movies from Disney have different levels of joy for me. Encino Man is the best of the three, but Son in Law allows Pauly Shore to stretch his thespian chops, and for the material and story that is presented on screen, Shore does very well in his fish out of water story.
Son in Law gets the Money Shot award. It’s the perfect movie for when you are on the go, and great no matter the screen you watch it on.
Call Sheet
- Pauly Shore as Crawl
- Carla Gugino as Rebecca
- Lane Smith as Walter
- Cindy Pickett as Connie
- Mason Adams as Walter Sr.
- Patrick Renna as Zack
- Tiffani Thiessen as Tracy
- Dan Gauthier as Travis
Productions Team:
Directed by Steve Rash
Produced by Hollywood Pictures / Touchwood Pacific Partners I
Written by: Patrick J Clifton / Susan McMartin / Peter M. Lenkov
Release Date: July 2, 1993
Budget: $8 million
Domestic Box Office Gross: $36,448,400
Coming Attractions
Next week, a step up in reviews with the Channing Tatum/Jenna Dewan dance classic, Step Up.