Son in Law (1993)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Steve Rash

Writers (WGA):

Patrick J. Clifton (story) &
Susan McMartin (story) ...

Release Date:

2 July 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

He's a relative nightmare.

Plot:

Having gotten a taste of college life, a drastically changed farm girl returns home for Thanksgiving break with her best friend, a flamboyant party animal who is clearly a fish out of water in a small farm town.

Plot Keywords:

Farm | Marriage | School | Country | 90s

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Pauly Shore	...	Crawl
Carla Gugino	...	Rebecca Warner
Lane Smith	...	Walter Warner
Cindy Pickett	...	Connie Warner
Mason Adams	...	Walter Warner Sr.
Patrick Renna	...	Zack Warner
Dennis Burkley	...	Theo
Tiffani Thiessen	...	Tracy (as Tiffani-Amber Thiessen)
Dan Gauthier	...	Travis
Ria Pavia	...	Carol
Lisa Lawrence	...	Lisa
Graham Jarvis	...	Principal
Nick Light	...	Mud Wrestling Announcer
Ernie Kinney	...	Horace
Troy Shire	...	Cowboy

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for elements of sensuality.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | UK:12 (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating) (1994) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Sweden:7 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

California State University Northridge - 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Hollywood Pictures

Trivia:

Early in the film, Crawl sings about the Hungry Man TV dinner he is about to eat. Mason Adams, who plays the grandfather, was a voice over announcer at the time the film was released.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Crawl and Rebecca first meet, he videotapes her from the door to her dorm room. In the following shot, we see a black-and-white shot from the point of view of his camera. Not only does it come from a significantly different location in the room, but also, Rebecca is looking well offscreen when she should be looking directly into the camera.

Quotes:

Crawl: Have you ever heard of the tooth fairy?
Zack: No...
Crawl: I wouldn't fall asleep if I were you.

Movie Connections:

References "Green Acres" (1965)

Soundtrack:

Thank God I'm A Country Boy

Funny, offbeat movie with a real message, 7 of 10.

Before I saw "Son In Law" I only had a vague idea who Pauly Shore was. Now I know. He is a superb comedic actor. In this movie he plays "Crawl", an upperclassman dorm counselor, who is a bit eccentric. He meets freshman "Becka" from South Dakota and they become fast friends. He helps her break out of her small town mold. In a Thanksgiving visit to her parents' home, he pretends to be her fiancee to save her embarassment of a sort with an old boyfriend.

I loved two things about this movie. Pauly Shore and the comedic situations are the first. The second is the message. How generations of "men" had perpetrated the same offenses against each other, and "Crawl" helps them see a better way to treat each other. He gets Becka's mom also to feel "alive" again, and rekindles romance between the parents.

The whole movie is a fresh approach to comedy, is a joy to watch. I rate it a strong 7 of 10.