You won't be disappointed!

So much average

As Good As It Gets

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Ed O'Neill, Ethan Embry, JoBeth Williams and Christopher McDonald star in this 1991 comedy. O'Neill (Married With Children, Modern Family) plays Dutch Dooley, a hard-working guy who decides to pick up young kid, Doyle (Embry) from Prep School for his girlfriend, Natalie Standish (Williams). Dutch meets Doyle and they get off on the wrong foot, but eventually become friends while traveling home for Thanksgiving through obstacles. McDonald (Happy Gilmore) plays Natalie's obnoxious ex-husband, Reed. This is a good holiday comedy with a bit of dramatic moments mixed in, O'Neill is great in it and I recommend it.

Dutch Dooley is the boyfriend of a wealthy, snobbish tycoon's ex-wife. Volunteering to drive her son home for Thanksgiving to Chicago from his boarding school in Georgia, little does Dutch expect the bizarre situations in store for him. When a blunt, down-to-earth construction worker takes to the road with an insufferable twelve-year-old snob, insecure under the surface, who does not approve of him in the least. A lot of ground must covered before they can reach their destination as friends........It's that age old problem isn't it. Rich people automatically thinking that the working class are a bunch of buffoons who wouldn't know Champagne from Cava, but give them the benefit of the doubt because, hey! Rich people shouldn't do labour outs jobs should they?So here we get two kind of road trips, the literal one with all the hi-jinks you'd expect from a film that has the John Hughes name to it, and the metaphorical road trip where they find themselves, and gain a mutual respect for each other, and it's as bland as it sounds.Firstly O'Neill as Dutch had to be one of the most unlikable good guys in the history of a Hughes written movie. We are supposed to side with a fully grown man who leaves a vulnerable child in the middle of nowhere at night? But hey it's okay, the boy is a rich brat. The rich must be punished!!!Embry is your typical Hughes brat. Abhorrent to the last sugar coated embrace, he's as unlikable as the titular character, and we have over an hour of these two on the road, bit picking at one another.Imagine Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with all the charm, wit, intelligence and love taken away, and you have this unfunny ordeal.And it all ends with Christopher Macdonald gaining a serious head injury, oh how I'd live to be working class, you can do anything you like to the other classes, and still be respected........because your a working man.Don't make me laugh.Rubbish.

Dutch is another in the long line of films from John Hughes (though not the director here). It's not quite at the same level as Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink, but it is a charming little film in its own right.The film features Ed O'Neil (then appearing on Married with Children) as Dutch Dooley, an unpretentious blue-collar kind of guy, who is dating Jo Beth Williams. Williams is divorced from the wealthy and royal (expletive) Christopher McDonald (playing another in a long line of jerks). McDonald still holds a grudge against his ex, since she found the courage to walk away from him. He gets back at her through controlling her access to money and via the (undeserved) adoration of their son, Doyle. Doyle attends a prestigious boy's school in Virginia. After Willams tries to get Doyle to come home for the holidays, and receives and nasty rejection, Dutch offers to travel to the school and bring Doyle home, giving them a chance to bond.Doyle is a spoiled little (expletive) learning well the lesson of his very absent father. He has no friends, but seems to have no desire for any. Enter Dutch and a battle of wills ensues. Dutch is determined to make friends with the boy, though he quickly finds that it is a tall order. And so, a road trip begins, complete with fireworks, accidents, prostitutes, robbery, and little acts of kindness that slowly start to chink away at Doyle's armor.O'Neil is the star here, ably portraying the working class Dutch. He is a self made man, who is proud of his background and doesn't have time for Doyle's spoiled rich antics, nor his useless father. He attempts to educate Doyle on the ways of the real world, especially those of the common man, who Doyle seems to hold in utter contempt. O'Neil never plays it too far over the top, nor too seriously. he strikes the right balance of humor and drama, letting expression and body language carry as much of the performance as dialogue.Ethan Embry proves to be up to working with a solid character man like O'Neil. He has Doyle down to a tee, making him thoroughly unlikeable and pompous. Bit by bit, the facade starts to fade and we see the smiling young boy depicted in a prised photo (of Doyle and his mother, but kept safely tucked away, lest he admit having feelings). Doyle is truly touched by the kindness of people that he previously sneered at, especially in some wonderful (if manipulative) scenes in a homeless shelter. Doyle soon comes to realize that Dutch, in just a couple of days, has been more of a father than his biological one (who can't be bothered to return a phone call).Jo Beth Williams and Christopher McDonald have the smaller parts, but make the most of their scenes. You believe that Williams truly loves her son, no matter how he treats her. McDonald plays a complete scumbag, but you still enjoy his performance enough to want to see him pop back in, if only to get his comeuppance.As is typical of Hughes, the emotions are heavily manipulated and the scenes pander to the audience, but the performances lift them above the cliché and the emotions seem earned. The journey along the road provides some excellent scenery, as they pass through the Southern mountains and make their way to the upper Midwest, showcasing scenery that Hollywood often ignores. The film is uneven in parts, but the characters are enjoyable enough to forgive this.In the end, Dutch is a movie that was somewhat ignored in its time; just another John Hughes film, with the same gags. This is probably due to the less than stellar marketing, which tried to make O'Neil's Dutch look more like Al Bundy. It's a shame, as the film deserved better. It is well worth checking out, assuming you can find it. The DVD release came and went almost as quietly as the movie. If you find it, though, watch it!

Yet, another movie were the antagonist takes advantage of the protagonist's mistakes, and tries to make comical situations out of it, but ending up just failing. It reminds me of "Home Alone 2" were some of the falling scenes sounding like failed punches from a comic book movie. The iconic "cracking of the nose" and other stupid sounds. The only difference between this and "Home Alone 2" is that at least "Home Alone 2" was funny.I know I gave this movie two and a half stars, but for the wrong reason. Let me just say that excluding Ed O'Neill, I hate every character in the movie. The two and a half stars basically go to him since I'm a sucker to see him in movies and portray his funny, middle class self. But this movie got on my last nerve in points.Lets stop and think about how many times we have seen this before, let alone in a John Hughes movie. It's almost like they tried to continue Uncle Buck in points of the film. This movie is very hard to relate to seeing as this kid is spoiled, and yet still miserable. This kid as an annoying, smart ass tone to him which make you want to punch the kid. Plus with a sucker mother, and a comical father, he's not living royalty.Dutch Dooley (Ed O'Neill) has a relationship with single mother Natalie (JoBeth Williams). Making a promise to his girlfriend, he agrees to drive to pick up her twelve-year-old son, Doyle Standish (Ethan Embry) from his private school in hopes that the drive back they will become friends. I have to stop and note that Doyle reminds me of that bratty kid from Full House that had and elegant way of talking and just a certain way of saying everything in a know-it-all way.Then....you guessed it. Doyle and Dutch have a less than brotherly relationship together. In fact, there like two kids fighting over the front seat in the car. The one kid instigates (Dutch), or the guy who tries to have a relationship with the other one, but in an unnatural way. Or like the guy who says "ha ha, I got the front seat." Doyle tries to be mature about it, but yes, in the wrong way. He says things in an annoying way just to be an instigator.This movie is not original at all, it's the same recycled concept we have seen on the big screen and in real life. You know what will happen. The mom's got a new boyfriend, the boyfriend tries to be nice to the kid, the kid pulls juvenile pranks on the adult, the adult takes no grown up charge towards it, then they work it out, movies over, wasted $10. I think thats all the nit-picking I can do on this. In all honesty, this isn't bad, but I've said this before, it goes in every way you would expect it. There's no uniqueness toward the movie.But I will go as far as saying, it's a watchable John Hughes movie. But it doesn't live up to the other forgotten ones like Curly Sue, Flubber, The Great Outdoors, and my second favorite John Hughes movie, Career Opportunities. I also have to be honest in saying that I laughed in parts of this movie. Plus there were a few parts in this that actually stood out that when I look at the title Dutch I'll remember this movie.Starring: Ed O'Neill, Ethan Randall, JoBeth Williams, and Christopher McDonald. Directed by: Peter Faiman.