Der Giftzwerg (1991)

Der Giftzwerg: Directed by Peter Faiman. With Ed O’Neill, Ethan Embry, JoBeth Williams, Christopher McDonald. To get to know his girlfriend’s son, a working-class good guy volunteers to pick him up from his prep school, only to learn that he isn’t the nicest young man.

“Dutch is fantastic because Ed Ou0026#39;Neill, the star of the movie, is a fantastic comedian, and an underrated one at that (but then again, Hollywood does recycle the same cast over and over, so itu0026#39;s no surprised you never see him in too many major motion pictures). And though Christopher MacDonald, who playu0026#39;s Doyleu0026#39;s father is a real creep, he is a great comedian as well, and you just canu0026#39;t help to laugh whenever this guy is around (uh…thatu0026#39;s a good thing).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is the early part of John Hughesu0026#39;s transition into strictly doing family films. He passed the teenage films (the brat pack series), then films with slightly younger supporting and main casts (Uncle Buck, Curly Sue, Dutch), and then went straight for the youngest-aged family film series (Home Alone, Babyu0026#39;s Day Out, etc). The early part of the John Hughes family film series, which started somewhere around 1989/1990 and continued into the early 90s, are comedies that I still enjoy watching (I havenu0026#39;t cared to watch many of his later movies because Babyu0026#39;s Day Out and Beethoven, etc. just doesnu0026#39;t interest me). They had two great elements: the social commentary (though it tends to be repeated in many of his films/screenplays), and the comedy element. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDisappointed that his father (Christopher MacDonald) is in London (on a supposed u0026quot;business tripu0026quot;, which translates into a holiday with a woman instead of his son) and wonu0026#39;t be spending time with him on Thanskgiving, spoiled-brat Doyle (Ethan Embry) decides that he doesnu0026#39;t want to spend the holiday with his mother, either. They donu0026#39;t get along well, especially considering he is more like a mirror of his incredibly obnoxious father, while his mother (Jo Beth Williams) is a sensitive, kinder woman who just wants to get along with her son. Donu0026#39;t worry, u0026#39;Dutchu0026#39; is on the case!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enDutch (Ed Ou0026#39;Neill) is sort of a bafoon character (as we see from the introduction at the party where he engages in something like a mini version of Peter Sellers in u0026#39;The Partyu0026#39;). But, heu0026#39;s a good-natured fellow with a heart of gold. Heu0026#39;d have to be to make a promise to Doyleu0026#39;s mom that heu0026#39;d bring the boy home for the holidays (Doyle goes to private school).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enIt proves to be no easy task. Not at all. Since Doyle doesnu0026#39;t want to come home at all, let alone with his motheru0026#39;s goofy boyfriend. Doyle despises Dutch because Doyle comes from major money (Dutch works in construction) and sees himself as a much classier person than Dutch (who can get pretty gross when he wants…if only to annoy Doyle). But, Dutch is going to do whatever it takes (and it takes a lot) not only to keep his promise to Doyleu0026#39;s mother, but to try and get the tense little boy to lighten up and see that the world is not entirely against him. So there, you have the typical elements of Hughest: 1) social commentary via class divisions; and 2) unecessary youth angst. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith a guy like Ed Ou0026#39;Neill, who even offers some great slapstick comedy, you can be sure that youu0026#39;ll be in for a lot of laughs. This guy truly is one underrated actor.”