Getting Even with Dad

Getting Even With Dad

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Howard Deutch
Produced by Katie Jacobs
Written by Tom S. Parker
Jim Jennewein
Starring Macaulay Culkin
Ted Danson
Glenne Headly
Music by Miles Goodman
Cinematography Tim Suhrstedt
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
 June 17, 1994 (1994-06-17)
Running time
 104 minutes
Language English
Budget $30 million
Box office $18,869,594

Getting Even With Dad is a 1994 American comedy film starring Macaulay Culkin and Ted Danson.[1]

Plot

Timmy Gleason (Macaulay Culkin) is the estranged son of ex-con Ray Gleason (Ted Danson) and has been living with his aunt Kitty and her fiancee since the death of his mother some years earlier. When Kitty goes on honeymoon, she dumps Timmy on a reluctant Ray, leaving him to look after his son for the next week. Timmy is hoping to spend time with his father, but is largely ignored by Ray, who is the midst of planning a rare coin heist with his two cronies Bobby and Carl (Saul Rubinek and Gailard Sartain). The robbery is successful, but Timmy learns of it and hides the stolen coins from them. He uses it to blackmail Ray into spending time with him, promising that he will return the coins to them afterwards. Thus father and son spend the next few days fishing, playing crazy golf and visiting amusement parks, with Bobby and Carl tagging along.

The police are suspicious of Ray, so Detective Theresa Walsh (Glenne Headly) is assigned to go undercover and surveil him. By chance, Ray and Timmy get talking to Theresa, unaware of who she really is, and invite her for a coffee and then to dinner. Theresa and Ray get closer and they kiss. Timmy and Ray have also gotten closer, and Timmy decides that he wants to stay with his dad permanently. He urges Ray to forget about the stolen coins, because he will probably be caught and sent back to prison. Ray refuses, so Timmy prepares to return home, but at the last moment Ray has a change of heart and chooses Timmy. Bobby then appears at the bus station, and at gunpoint forces Ray to open the locker containing the coins. Ray and Bobby are set upon by the waiting police and arrested. Ray is crushed to discover that Theresa is a cop. However, it turns out that the bag in the locker was full of pennies, so Ray is released again. At Timmy's prompting, Theresa finds the rare coins in a gym bag in a department store held by a mannequin, while father and son prepare for a new life together.

Cast

Production

Macaulay Culkin's character was supposed to have a short haircut in this movie, but Culkin, who had let his hair grow at the time, liked his looks and did not want to cut it. His father, Kit Culkin, demanded on behalf of his son that he be allowed to keep his hair the way it was, pointing out that his character was more a rough around the edges, working class boy and not a clean-cut, prep school one. He got to keep his long hair.[1]

Saul Rubinek was really hit in the nose with a bat during the scene where he falls down the stairs at the stadium. Since he was caught off guard, his reaction gave the scene a more realistic look and the director decided to leave it in the final cut.

Locations

The theme park featured in the movie was Paramount's Great America located in Santa Clara, California.

Ray's apartment in the movie is located at the corner of Jackson and Mason St. in Chinatown, San Francisco.

Reception

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively collected reviews to give a score of 3% based on reviews from 29 film critics, with a rating average of 3.5 out of 10. The site's consensus reads: "Overly formulaic and tonally inconsistent, Getting Even with Dad tries for a sentimental conclusion it doesn't earn and winds up a slapsticky cash grab aimed at fans of Home Alone." [2]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two out of four stars saying, "It wants to be a caper, a comedy, a romance, and a showcase for Macaulay Culkin. That's too much of a stretch."[3] Desson Howe of The Washington Post also gave the film a negative review explaining that "after plying the audience with formulaic predictability, Getting Even doesn't even have the decency to end quickly. Minutes away from sending the audience home, it chooses to fall asleep on the job."[4]

Culkin's performance in the film earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actor (also for The Pagemaster and Richie Rich).

References

  1. 1 2 "Ted Danson, Macaulay Culkin Work Together On An Even Keel". Morning Call. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  2. ↑ "Getting Even with Dad". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  3. ↑ Ebert, Roger (June 17, 1994). "Getting Even With Dad :: Reviews". The Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  4. ↑ Howe, Desson (June 17, 1994). "‘Getting Even With Dad’". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 8, 2013.

External links

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