Dunston Checks In

Dunston Checks In (1996)

Directed by: Ken Kwapis

Written by: John Hopkins, Bruce Graham

Starring: Jason Alexander, Faye Dunaway, Eric Lloyd, Rupert Everett, Graham Sack

Rating: PG

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I'm running behind a little again, but I've been trying for a couple days to get caught up. This is what I will finally be able to do with my vacation time! I first watched this movie because we got it somewhere when I was a child. We had it on VHS for years (probably inside Goodwill or Sans Souci somewhere now) but I bought it sometime during my college years out of the $5 dollar bin at Wal-Mart. Many of my purchases, in case you haven't noticed by now, are nostalgia driven. (Hate me all you want, I <3 Power Rangers).

My most recent viewing of this film was a couple of weekends ago. I was with my brothers and my lovely fiancee. My brothers and I had watched this movie a lot growing up, but none of us had watched it anytime recently. It had been probably at least ten years. A lot of things I remembered vividly and others I had completely forgotten, but came back to me like time spent with an old friend. It feels weird at first, but after awhile you're just as in sync as you were when you were together every day.

Anyhow, brief synopsis: 

Director Ken Kwapis (He's Just Not That Into You) brings us the story of Robert Grant (Jason Alexander; Seinfeld) who is the manager of the Majestic hotel in New York City. He is widowed and has two kids named Brian (Graham Sack; The Miracle Child) and Kyle (Eric Lloyd; The Santa Clause). The annual "Crystal Ball" is approaching, which is their biggest hotel event of the year, and Robert's boss, Mrs. Dubrow (Faye Dunaway; Network), is in town with word that they have a judge in their hotel who will decide whether or not they go from a five to six star hotel. With two young boys in the hotel, this becomes difficult enough for Robert, but it gets worse. Lord Rutledge (Rupert Everett; Inspector Gadget) has just checked in with his burglary companion Dunston (who is also an orangutan). Dunston is a fun-loving monkey, while Rutledge is all business. Needless to say, Rutledge has never cared for his monkey, and when the going gets tough, Dunston gets going! He befriends Kyle rather quickly, and they have quite an adventure ahead of them.

My thoughts:

I have always really enjoyed this movie. I know that The Nostalgia Critic talks about this movie and why movies with monkeys aren't funny, but come on. Monkeys are funny SOMETIMES!! I think that maybe I was more fond of this movie as a child, but I still enjoyed it this time around. There is some adult humor, and an S-bomb (not really sure how that still landed a PG rating, but I'll take it), and still plenty of silly monkey humor and slapstick moments for the kids. Jason Alexander always has a little bit of Costanza in him, and I could see it here. There were also standout performances on the comedic end from Paul Reubens (Mystery Men), Glenn Shadix (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and Nathan Davis (Holes). Eric Lloyd was a pretty successful child actor in the 90's, and he did a pretty great job in this movie. Though he was about 10 years old when it premiered, he looked quite a bit younger and it worked well for him in this case. 

I've always been a big fan of slapstick humor, monkeys, and Jason Alexander. If you are too, this is a good way to spend your time. I definitely recommend watching it with your kids, but maybe if it's on TV, so that there's no S-bomb you have to explain to them. My parents were concerned when I watched this movie as a kid, but without just a minor word or two in there, it's a great experience for all involved. That's the one part of the movie I could've done without, merely because it expresses lack of commitment to chosen genre. 

What Can We Learn?

I think the lesson in this movie is simple, really. It is one that all of us need to hear at one time or another.

In this film, Robert Grant has a lot of things that steal his focus. His kids getting into trouble, his boss, the Crystal ball, a monkey, etc. In the end, (no spoilers) he re-arranges his life so that his priorities are straight. I think this is one of the most important things people can do. Your family should come first, and then your job and all the stress that comes with it. I think (however subtle it may be) that this movie should remind us to be true to ourselves and keep our priorities straight.

Final Words:

I'd say this movie is worth a watch or two. If you haven't watched this movie a couple of times between the time you were 7 and now, like I have, then you might not be reached with the same affection for this movie as I am. But, still. Give it a chance. Especially if you like monkeys. I always give movies a fair shake, no matter how many Razzie awards they have won or been nominated for (in this case, just one). So if you need a little George Costanza, Pee Wee Herman, Kid from Santa Clause and Orangutan in your life...you now know exactly what movie to watch. 

I want to thank all my readers as always. Please leave me any feedback..I love having movie discussions so it would really help me to hear your suggestions. I have one more watched movie from that same weekend left to review, and then I am open. I have been considering a Christmas theme, but I am limited on movies that I own in that category. I have added a few since then but please remember that my list was posted awhile back so if you have suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them.

Thanks for your feedback in advance. Like, click the clicky buttons, or comment to your hearts content.

God Bless,

NAH

D3: The Mighty Ducks

D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)

Directed By: Robert Lieberman

Written By: Steven Brill, Kenneth Johnson, Jim Burnstein

Starring: Emilio Estevez, Joshua Jackson, Shaun Weiss, Jeffrey Nordling, Elden Ryan Ratliff (Henson), Kenan Thompson

Rating: PG

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I'm a little behind on this one. I watched this nearly three weeks ago (same weekend as Cool Runnings, The Benchwarmers, and The Avengers) with my brother Joshie.

I won't make this too long, because there really isn't a whole lot to say, so I'll start with this: I love me some Mighty Ducks....and it's KNUCKLEPUCK TIME!!!

The Premise:

The Mighty Ducks (or Team USA) all get scholarships to Eden Hall Academy, a local private school, to become their freshman hockey team. Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez; Young Guns) then tells team captain Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson; TV's Dawson's Creek) that he will no longer be their coach, and that the school's regular freshman coach, Ted Orion (Jeffrey Nordling; TRON: Legacy). Charlie and the rest of the ducks aren't too receptive to this idea at first. They want to play "like they always have" and Orion wants to improve their game. He shakes things up by not naming a captain (at first), putting Adam Banks (Vincent Larusso; The Mighty Ducks) on the Varsity squad (they're a bunch of jerks, btw) and removing Greg Goldberg (Shaun Weiss; Heavyweights) as goalie. The Ducks (now "Warriors") are also down 1 "bash brother" as Fulton Reed (Elden Henson; Cast Away) has been left behind by Dean Portman (Aaron Lohr; Newsies). The Ducks fall further and further from grace, until their long-time supporter and friend, Hans (Joss Ackland; Lethal Weapon 2) passes away, which brings them together for the funeral (including Bombay). Of course, when Bombay returns, things start to look up for all of them.

Thoughts:

This is a great, heartfelt way to round out the trilogy. So many of the comments online say "they should've stopped at two", which would've been fine, but this movie is a good one, too. All of your favorite Ducks are back, like Charlie, Connie, Guy Germaine (who is Fulton's real life brother, btw),  Russ, Dwayne, Goldberg, Averman, Banks, and the like are back for one last go round. Bombay isn't around as much as the cover makes him seem, as this movie is mostly about the coming of age and maturing of the Ducks, primarily Charlie. This is a heart-warming, predictable, fun story about the Mighty Ducks that we have all grown to know and love. The acting is predictably Disney, but honestly not the worst I've seen from a Disney film. Estevez and Jackson are really pretty good, and the rest take to their roles as they should. Nordling was a standout in this one, as well. 

Moral:

The moral of this one is simple. We must learn to grow up. We cannot always keep things the same. We must evolve, we must continue to build on the skills and strengths we have. If we want to stay Captain, or Goalie...we must fight for it. We may not always simply continue to receive it. 

Final Thought:

Yeah...Final thought sounds a little "Jerry Springer" for me. Any whoooo. Watch this movie. If you haven't seen the others, watch them first (I'm sure I'll get to reviewing them eventually, but faster if you request it :)) and this is a trilogy worth having copies to show your kids one day. I'm confident that you'll enjoy it just as much watching it now, or with your children, as you did when you saw it for the first time when you were a child. I was 7. I'm now 23. 'Nuff said!

Thanks to you all for reading. I have more on the way still and I appreciate all your feedback. Also, I'm looking for someone to get me a Mighty Ducks jersey with one of the players names on it for Christmas, so if you want to be my new best friend....you know what to do :)

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope this was long enough to satisfy but short enough not to bore!

Feedback in any way you want (don't forget about Facebook likes and clicky boxes)

Thanks and God Bless!

NAH