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54 comments in total

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14 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Bring Back Savage Steve Holland, 27 May 2005

Author: PeterB2422 from Kansas City, MO

In the eighties, Savage Steve Holland put out three movies, two of which are classics of what seems to be a very small genre, absurdist teen comedies. The third "How I Got Into College" does not measure up to "Better Off Dead" and this one, mainly because of it's lack of John Cusack and Curtis Armstrong (Except for a tiny cameo).

One Crazy Summer is an underrated movie, with lots of great characterizations and gags. As I recall, Savage Steve's movies were vilified as being brain dead at the time and after three movies he drifted into children's TV. We could use more movies from the likes of him.

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Very likeable and amusing, 18 July 2001
Author: TC Raymond from England

I have to admit that these days, I can't stand Demi Moore. It seemed almost as soon as I 'discovered' her (and developed a squirmy adolescent crush on her) via this film, her career went stellar, the films got worse and she turned into just another boring megastar. Life sometimes really sucks. But ONE CRAZY SUMMER doesn't suck. It's a very amusing and eminently likeable teen comedy that doesn't stoop to bad taste gags or gross-out schtick for its laughs (Farrelly brothers, take note) and relies on its very eighties feelgood charm to win you over. I watched this one over and over again on VHS when I was a kid, and I must've driven my parents and friends insane with my constant cries of "Chilli dog!", "This is a love story, not a Rambo bloodbath!", "Hi Cookie! I'm Egg...gemini!" and all those other little bits of treasurable dialogue. The cartoon sequences are brilliant, nicely subversive in a Ralph Bakshi - Robert Crumb way, and the cast are perfect. Bobcat Goldthwait really turns the spastic nerd persona up HIGH here, and one of the most killingly funny moments in his career occurs when someone playfully throws a beachball at his head, only for him to yelp "That really smarts, that went in my eye!" Trust me, it's so funny. I want to go to Nantucket Island some day and find a cute rock chick who prefers shy cartoonists to buff studs with hot cars and have a bunch of zany adventures with some wacky friends, but until I do, I'll just watch ONE CRAZY SUMMER again. Enjoy!

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7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
'One' of a kind!, 8 May 2004
Author: jellyneckr

Upon seeing ONE CRAZY SUMMER for the first time many years ago, I wasn't very impressed with it. I thought it had some decent laughs, but I was overall disappointed. Then I saw this again movie last summer when it was on VH1 and my opinion instantly changed. I loved it.

If there is one movie genre that really stuck out in the 1986, it was goofy comedies. From ARMED AND DANGEROUS to POLICE ACADEMY 3: BACK IN TRAINING, 1986 was full of wacky comedies. Perhaps the wackiest of them all, ONE CRAZY SUMMER, like all of Savage Steve Holland's movies, is a classic. Hilariously insane and inventive and loaded with great lines, 'summer' is John Cusack's best movie to date. According to a recent interview I read with Savage Steve Holland, Cusack really hates this movie as well as BETTER OFF DEAD, his previous collaboration with Holland. What Cusack could possibly hate about both movies is beyond me. Both are comedic masterpieces. However, ONE CRAZY SUMMER is the better of the two, mainly because it has a better cast. The cast does a terrific job (Bob Goldthwait has never been funnier).

Simply a classic! ****

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
One Crazy Summer, 28 June 1999
Author: Tim Cox from Marietta, OH

The always likable Cusack collaborates with "Better Off Dead" director Holland again in this comedy about a struggling cartoonist who helps a singer (Moore...And boy does she sing badly.) save her family home from a land developer on the island of Nantucket. Goldthwait is his usual maniacal self and adds some laughs to the picture. A film that has loads of fun with itself. Completely harmless.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
"Saturday Night at the local...", 27 September 2001

Author: Francisco Huerta (fjhuerta@hotmail.com) from Mexico City

Thus starts "One Crazy Summer", the evil twin of "Better off dead..". How can any movie be bad when the opening lines are sung by David Lee Roth?

This movie is a total blast. Pairing again John Cusack with Curtis Armstrong, but this time adding Bobcat Goldwaith to the mix has great, funny results. Hyperactive Bobcat grates the nerve of everyone around, Curtis "Ak Ak" is the son of a deranged military with pacifist tendencies, and Demi Moore (with natural breasts... wow!) as the love interest of, once again, chronically depressed Cusack.

The story is, well, simple enough. The laughs are there, but both Savage Steve Holland films have a certain quality to them... they are funny, but they are also sweet. The scene where Curtis finds a blown up doll in the target practice beach, and begins musing about how a little girl won't be able to sleep was dumb, funny and touching. The animation used throughout is quite surreal. "The Boat" is hysterical (complete with Watsamatta U. sail and Odie plush doll). Overall, a fun film, though not as good as "Better off dead..."

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
One Crazy Comedy, 4 September 2003
Author: dbspencer777 from Ohio

I cannot say enough good things about this movie. From the warped mind of Savage Steve Holland comes this superior laughfest. First, I have to say that I haven't seen many movies that start out with a David Lee Roth tune. This could be a good or bad thing. The main character is John Cusack's character, who calls himself Hoops. Which is a total oxymoron if you have seen his basketball skills in the movie. This movie is all about leaving your troubles behind and getting away for the summer to Nantucket. Hoops is afraid of boats, but has no choice when his friend George launches his clunker onto the ferry at the last minute. He shacks up with future love interest Demi Moore, the worst actress in history. But she is pretty young and 80's looking in this one. They finally hit mainland and meet a whole host of odd characters. Of these is Bobcat Golthwait and Dudley Dawson, from the Revenge of the Nerd flicks. Hoops is still practicing his drawing and falling head over heels for a debutante named Cookie. But Cookie has a muscle bound rich preppy ass boyfriend named Teddy. And he has it out for Hoops and co. As the plot thickens, Demi's character is about to lose her grandfathers house to the bank, so they decide to plan a benefit at a local dive. You can just imagine Demi lipsyncing. She ends up with plenty of money, but the bank has already sold the mortgage to the house. The movie comes to a happy ending via boat race on the lovely waters of Nantucket. Cusack and co. build a riff raff boat and blow everyone out of the water, despite some unfair play along the way. So they get the trophy, house, and Cusack ends up in a liplock with Demi. Despite the cheesey story, there are some really funny moments in this one. Some of my personal favorites are: the guy getting stabbed during the hat toss at graduation, Uncle Frank getting launched out of the bathroom window, and Bobcat getting stuck in a Godzilla costume. Also expect cameos from Rich Hall, Rich Little, and Taylor Negron. I rate this movie 4/5 for the great comic moments and the fact that I grew up watching this one. Very hard to find on dvd, and am not sure on bonus footage, but this is a comedy classic. But I think Better off Dead is equal or a little less funnier. Both have their moments. And this was way before Cusack ruined his career doing Pushing Tin.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
A total gut-busting riot, 10 January 2008

Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Affable aspiring cartoonist Hoops McCann (a wonderfully engaging performance by John Cusack) and his best buddy George (the deliciously deadpan Joel Murray) go to Nantucket for the summer following graduation from high school. Hoops, George, and several newfound pals come to the aid of Cassandra (Demi Moore at her most charming), a singer who's family house is being threatened with demolition by the greedy Beckersted clan. Writer/director Savage Steve Holland offers an often hilariously wacky and zesty nonstop barrage of admittedly broad and dumb, but still very funny jokes. The constant madcap lunacy has a real giddy, good-natured and infectiously inane vitality to it that's impossible to either dislike or resist. Moreover, the lively and enthusiastic acting from a fine game cast adds immensely to the zany merriment: Bobcat Goldthwait as the spastic Egg Stork, Tom Villard as his goofy brother Clay, Curtis Armstrong as the sweet Ack Ack Raymond, Mark Metcalf as evil rich jerk Aquilla Beckersted, Matt Mulhern as the mean Teddy, Kimberly Foster as the fetching Cookie, Joe Flaherty as the gung-ho General Raymond, William Hickey as cranky Old Man Beckersted, Jeremy Piven as smug preppy bully Ty, and John Matuszak as hulking biker Stan. Isidore Mankofsky's slick cinematography, the hip thrashy soundtrack, Cory Lerios' cool rockin' score, and the funky animation are all uniformly excellent. Single funniest scene: Egg in a Godzilla suit terrorizing a posh dinner party. An absolute hoot.

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Holland's Second Film Fails, 12 October 2009

Author: CitizenCaine from Las Vegas, Nevada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

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.

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Not so crazy, but still priceless, 17 September 2008

Author: pljewkes from Boston, MA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Priceless. Savage Steve Holland's clever follow-up to his masterwork BETTER OFF DEAD. John Cusack once again comes through for Holland in the lead, a would-be artist summering on Nantucket with his lazy best friend. He tries to help singer Demi Moore(!) save her family's property from a deranged land baron. The Cusack/Moore romance is pretty lopsided but there are goofy scenes galore provided, for the most part, by Bobcat Goldthwait and Tom Villard as the Stork brothers. They're very funny. Mark Metcalf, essentially reprising his ANIMAL HOUSE/Doug Neidermeyer role is another big plus as the land baron. Joe Flaherty pops up as a far too eager troop leader. Part of the now classic Savage Steve Holland trilogy which includes BETTER OFF DEAD and HOW I GOT INTO COLLEGE.

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One great time! {contains spoilers}, 24 February 2003

Author: Andy (murgaine@yahoo.com) from Tampa, Florida USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

What can I say about this movie except that it is great fun!

John Cusack plays Hoops McCann a recent High School graduate who has two choices, learn to take up the family business of street sweeping or spend the summer at Nantucket with his pal George Calamari (played hilariously by Joel Murray) and his zany friends.

When I say zany, believe me, it can't get much zanier than the Stork brothers, Egg (Bobcat Goldthwait) and Clay (Tom Villard) and Ack Ack Raymond (Curtis Armstrong). Throw in a little girl named Squid and her weirdo mutt and a great performance by Demi Moore and you have the makings of a split your sides laughing, movie.

The laughs flow freely in this movie and the story line, though the typical good versus bad and good conquers, is great with the twist of a regatta as the showdown.

I would recommend this movie for anyone who likes loads of laughs and a feel good time. If you like to thoroughly *enjoy* your movies, then you can't miss One Crazy Summer!

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