Stuck for something to watch while we had a few glasses of wine, we chose to stream this from Amazon. After all, it was one of those 'put-upon father with teenage kids and a far wiser wife' type of films. And Fred McMurray is a pleasant and reliable actor and it's a Disney production, so what could go wrong? Plenty. The first half of the film drags terribly, with the gags firing on only a couple of cylinders and there is a desperate need for some vim and vigour. Compared to James Stewart's wonderful 'Mr Hobbs takes a Vacation' (made in the same year) this film falls flat in most areas, and even the usually excellent Sherman brothers music is uncharacteristically dull. There's a curious scene in which Dad finds himself alone in a street-side cafe and is approached by a pretty woman who seems to be an er.. 'escort'. It lasts only a couple of minutes and does not connect to anything else in the film, except a little later we see the same woman trying to chat up the elder son. With an already long running time of 2hrs 12 minutes, this scene could have easily been cut with no effect on the movie. The best thing I can say is that Fred McMurray does his best and Jane Wyman (not my favourite actress) looks quite nice, as does the sunlit scenery.
Review of Bon Voyage!
