John Petrakis

Perhaps blackmail isn't an easy subject to warm up to, or robbery the best ground to rebuild a relationship on, but with a little care, some added ingredients and a bit more spice, Getting Even With Dad could have been a satisfying meal and not just an afternoon snack. [17 Jun 1994, p.H]

Perhaps if writer-director George Gallo ("29th Street") had tried to simplify this potentially sweet story, instead of mucking it up with all sorts of chases and shtick, it might have worked as a modern Christmas fable, complete with charity, kindness, and Three Not-So-Wise Men. But instead, we are presented with a Christmas buffet of overstuffed fruitcake and overspiked punch. Too stale, too sweet, too much. [02 Dec 1994, p.J]

Too-loud, poorly directed and seriously overedited.

I can only hope that this film was a lot of fun to make. That way, someone will have enjoyed the experience.

The animation itself is just OK. And the reworked script, despite some funny one-liners, is pretty much there just to pull the story along to its inevitable conclusion. [19 March 1999, Friday, p. A]

Just Married is what industry people refer to as "January Junk," cinematic flotsam that gets tossed ashore once they have cleared the shelves of Oscar contenders.

Contains too little of the original's campy spirit and too many whistles, bells, explosions and screams.

Falls prey to the all-too-contemporary problem of complicating the tale until the ending is not only obvious, but prayed for between yawns. [9 February 1999, Tempo, p.2]

The shadow of Gena Rowlands looms over this picture like a cinematic eclipse. [25 January 1999, Tempo, p.5]

The biggest script flaw is the curious lack of cause and effect in the relationship between Jack and Ed.

So laden with forced plot twists that it will never be able to recover.

Perfect late-summer drive-in fare.

Not without its humorous moments, but they are too few and far between.

All the principals in this cinematic mess have had moments of glory on stage and screen, and one can only hope they got paid well for participating in this comedic embarrassment.

A bloody mess...The effects are nothing you haven't seen before; the acting is so broad, it borders on the ridiculous; and the story, once intriguing, has become ludicrous. [11 March 1996, p.C3]

This was a mission that should have been aborted long ago.

So filled with illogical twists and ridiculous turns, that eventually it evokes unintentional laughs.

It's hard not to feel angry that you've spent almost two hours watching this moronic exercise.

The sad truth is, I can say nothing to recommend this film.

The direction is on auto-drive, the dialogue lacks wit and the story logic is non-existent. [03 Nov 1995]

Ostensibly a story about first love in college, and I never believed a frame of it.

Most of the humor is aimed at 14-year-olds.

A decent idea that never goes deep enough for genuine satisfaction.

The film has none of the charm of the series.

It's just a matter of holding your nose until the whole thing is over.

When the final twist has been turned and the last corpse has hit the ground, it is a film that could have been twice as good if it had been half as complicated.