Dutch

Little positive to report on this John Hughes production (he also scripted, and must therefore carry the can for the below-par dialogue). The rite-of-passage here is a car ride, from school in Atlanta to Thanksgiving dinner in Chicago, undertaken under protest by adolescent rich kid Doyle (Randall) in the company of Dutch (O'Neill), his separated mother's working-class boyfriend. Doyle is superior sonofabitch personified, his only rival in loathsomeness Doyle's absentee father (McDonald). O'Neill displays lazy charm, a Matthau-like rambling bear of a man-child with a grin set somewhere between gormless and amiable. The set pieces, involving fireworks, a walk in the cold, a car crash and a pair of prostitutes who turn Doyle's cheeks cherry red, are the milestones on the path to friendship and respect. It's all assembly-line stuff.