Vacations are the days all regular Joe's dream about while toiling away at their desks, or laboring in a factory. People want to get away from it all, kick off their shoes, and relax for a few days without anyone or anything demanding their attention. Most people find a nice hotel with a pool as far away from home as possible. If you're John Candy, you plan a trip to take the wife and boys away to a lodge where you can relax, only to find out your bothersome brother-in-law and his wife are going to horn in on the fun. The Great Outdoors is a classic example of what happens when the best-laid plans are completely ruined by the extremely annoying brother-in-law, who has his plan to borrow money disguised as an investment. John Candy (aka Chet Ripley) has reserved a cabin with emotional attachments for him, his wife, and two sons. The Ripley's are going to fish and spend a simple week of family bonding together. Then all their plans are turned upside down when Dan Aykroyd (aka Roman Craig) crashes the family's trip with his wife and twin daughters. Roman Craig is a slick talking banker and investor who suddenly finds himself without a job and in debt up to ear lobes, while Chet Ripley is a working class stiff who often finds himself the butt of Roman's jokes. Throughout the movie, Chet plans activities that would be fun for his sons if Uncle Roman would just stop interfering. The most memorable scenes in the movies involve animals that Chet encounters. There's a chase through the cabin with a tennis racket, fly swatter, and face protection improvised with household items as Chet and Roman attempt to kill a bat. Near the end of the movie, Chet saves Roman's twin daughters from a legendary bald grizzly and the cave the girls had been trapped in. The movie ends well with Chet agreeing to take-in the Craig family and help them to get back on their feet. Queen Latifah (aka Georgia Byrd) is a clerk working for Kragen's department stores in the movie Last Holiday. She's lived a frugal life never taking vacations, and always counting every penny when she is diagnosed with a terminal illness. The dream she's had of opening her own restaurant flies out the window as she decides to take the perfect holiday. She reserves a room in an expensive hotel and begins to spend her hard earned money on things she's always wanted. In the course of living until she dies, she meets the chef she has admired and prepared a meal for the hotel restaurant with him. She also meets a high-powered and very corrupt politician who has been dealing under the table with the owner of Kragen's department stores. Kragen's and Byrd's vacations come to a crashing end when Georgia talks with Matt's girlfriend, which causes the girlfriend to end their relationship. Georgia finds out that she's not dying, and she finally realizes that her feelings for another Kragen's employee, Sean Matthews (LL Cool J) are mutual. These are just two examples of movies that use vacations as the backdrop for the absurdity and storytelling. It is been a movie trope that has been used for some time, and they usually produce plenty of opportunities for characters to get outside of their comfort zones. When researching Michigan vacations, potential visitors consult the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau. To learn more, visit http://www.lansing.org/visitor/.
Related Articles -
michigan, vacations,
|