Son in Law

Son-In-Law is a comedy that outstrips its aspirations. It could so easily be a movie you're embarrassed to be caught laughing at. [2 July 1993, p.C]

The movie might have had a chance if it had abandoned all the false sentiment and simply acknowledged Crawl as the cretin he is. John Belushi would have known how to play this part. Read full review

SON-IN-LAW is like too much of Disney's profligate output, undemanding entertainment for undemanding people. Read full review

In ”Son-In-Law,” Pauly Shore is like MTV’s missing Marx Brother; call him Sleazo. For once, he makes being utterly shameless seem halfway likable. Read full review

Well, the movie's dumber than a coop full of chickens, but Pauly Shore makes a funny barnyard animal. Read full review

It's all good, stupid fun. Read full review

Terrible, but not worth getting worked up about. Read full review

In the end, you can’t have much movie fun with freakiness if you aren’t willing to freak the movie out a little. Read full review

It's perhaps the only film that could make you wish they'd made a sequel to "Encino Man" instead. [2 July 1993, p.D24]

Son-in-Law (bet you can't guess the ending) would be brain-on-vacation fun if it weren't so smug and patronizing. [2 July 1993, p.44]

The movie's message -- repression is bad, self-expression is good -- is amiable, and Shore's androgynous appearance and mannerisms are more subversive stuff than the usual fish-out-of-water formula offers. But director Steve Rash can do nothing with the feeble comedy bits. [2 July 1993, p.15]

There are moments here in which Shore actually behaves like a recognizable human being with some semblance of feelings, emotions and conscience. Happily, his acting skills are adequate to the task. Read full review

Rash's movie is forgettable, the smarmy Shore being just as hard to take as the sophomoric one. So if you're not a fan, consider waiting for Son-In-Law to slouch its way into a dollar house. [2 July 1993, p.L22]

Unless you're among those who admit to an inexplicable admiration for Shore, Son-in-Law will rate as one of the most unpleasant, grating experiences of the summer. Read full review

It's just as boring and dumb as it sounds. This is the kind of movie that uses a shot of a bare butt as a punch line, and thinks having Encino Man's Brendan Fraser do a walk-on re- enaction of that movie's frog-eating scene is a clever cameo. As if. And Shore needs to freshen up his act: You can only act like a buffoon for so long before people start thinking of you as one. Remember Andrew Dice Clay? [2 July 1993, p.G5]

Let's just say that compared to Son-in-Law, Green Acres is Noel Coward. Read full review

Shore's new "comedy" Son-In-Law proves without question that this MTV maniac is one of the most tedious one-note performers in any branch of show business today. Considering that his brain-addled manner serves as a role model for many teenagers is more offensive than his lack of talent. [2 July 1993, p.9]