Shore remains one of the mysteries of film history. Looking like what would result if Richard Simmons and Weird Al Yankovic had a child together, he is the unlikeliest of movie stars. Yet somehow, for a time at least, he managed to carve out a career for himself as a comic leading man. This film is often cited as one of his least annoying, but even here he is sometimes hard to take. He plays a way-out, overaged college student who winds up coming home for the Thanksgiving holiday with a pretty freshman from the country. Once there he offends, then predictably wins over, her family and friends......most of them anyway. The film is undeniably predictable and familiar and the material is very slight. Yet somehow, in spite of its hurdles, it manages to entertain to a certain point and actually contains a few laughs. Shore, as agonizing as he is, does occasionally score a thoughtful moment or two among all the slapstick and crude language. Gugino is lovely. Her presence adds immeasurably to the overall geniality of the film. The actors portraying her family do a very nice job as well. Smith as the father is suitably outraged by Shore. Pickett adds dimension to a pretty standard role. The best are Renna and Adams. Renna plays the obnoxious younger brother role to the hilt. It would be hard to come up with a brattier persona, but he puts a fun spin on it. Adams get a late career gem of a part as the cantankerous grandfather and steals many of the scenes he is in. To the director's credit, none of these characters get shorted in their opportunity to present themselves. (In other words, Shore isn't the ENTIRE show here. The supporting cast gets to shine as well.) Also present are hunky Gauthier as Gugino's former boyfriend (often looking like Tom Cruise in "All the Right Moves") and sexy Thiessen as the local easy mark. The movie is already dated in terms of its clothing and other aspects. Shore gives Pickett a makeover and it's hard to see why anyone thinks she looks better than before! Fortunately, the thing doesn't drag on for too long. It's just a short, sometimes funny, sometimes sweet, sometimes stupid movie that is blessed with a few enjoyable performers and a refreshing lack of undue sex and drugs.
