The Great Outdoors

The Great Outdoors (1988) is Howard Deutch's family comedy, written by John Hughes, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A quiet lakeside vacation in Wisconsin turns into a low-grade war between two families.

Chet Ripley (John Candy) hauls his wife and sons to the cabin where he once vacationed with his own dad, dreaming of fishing and peace and quiet. That dream collapses the moment his smug brother-in-law Roman (Dan Aykroyd) shows up uninvited, with his wife, twin daughters and a bottomless supply of one-upmanship. What follows: a skinless bear, a monster steak eaten on a dare, bats in the bedroom and two men who simply cannot stand each other.

It is a classic Hughes-era comedy that runs almost entirely on the Candy-Aykroyd pairing, with a young Annette Bening turning up in an early role. The humor is broad and sometimes proudly silly, but warm, the kind of movie that plays well on a lazy weekend with no big expectations. Stream The Great Outdoors (1988) online on iFILM.