Dutch

1991 Directed by Peter Faiman

They're the best of friends... And they've got the scars to prove it.

To get to know his girlfriend's son, a man volunteers to pick him up from a prep school....only to learn that her son's not the nicest kid.

Ed O'Neill Ethan Embry JoBeth Williams Christopher McDonald Ari Meyers Elizabeth Daily L. Scott Caldwell Kathleen Freeman

Alternative Titles

Driving me crazy, De Volta pra Casa

comedy

107 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by pd187 ★★★ 12

this isnt very funny & has a caddyshack/trump-grade understanding of "working class" as "wealthy but crass guy who offends country club prudes" (millionaire dutch runs construction sites all over town with his name on them & tosses bankroll$ like its nothing while beefing with truckstop waitresses and greyhound bus passengers) but i love ed oneill and ethan embry is good as hell (cant imagine another child actor who could pull off this character/dialogue) and HOLY SHIT is this dumb comedy beautifully shot - i went to imdb afterwards expecting to find the DP was some shanghaied arthouse ringer like when woody allen shoots his talky yuppie fuckfests with the DP from mccabe & mrs miller but NO its a guy who started on…
Review by Travis Lytle ★★★

The John Hughes-scripted, Peter Faiman-directed "Dutch" feels like it is cobbled together from chunks of better Hughes scripts, but it is still a fun, remarkably moving comedy. Following an odd couple pairing heading home for the Thanksgiving holiday, the film may come off as consisting of rejected pages from "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" and "Home Alone," but it is a worthy, sometimes charming piece of work.
"Dutch" follows Dutch Cooley, an apparently working class, regular Joe, as he escorts his girlfriend's jerk of a son back to her for Thanksgiving. The two in no way get along, but Dutch is determined to put his best face forward and try to tolerate the intolerable school boy. A series of road-based adventures…
Review by Sara Jean ★★★★ 4

I'm a big fan of Married with Children. Combine that and the fact that I watched this a lot (on laserdisc) growing up, this movie is an easy win for me.
Review by Geoffrey Broomer ★★½

Wasn't overly impressed by this in my youth, and revisited it due to mistaking its holiday backdrop for Christmas instead of Thanksgiving.
Retreads a number of previous Hughes themes - Uncle Buck for the Married with Children crowd. Both leads are wonderful, but there is enough sexually charged material to make one's skin crawl, specifically grown stranger bonding with child over adult playing cards.
At the very least, this made the recentest DRAGNET the most inspired casting ever.
Review by Dawson Joyce ★★½

Retreading ground already covered in Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Uncle Buck, Dutch has its moments here and there but the overall affair is an unfortunately bland effort from writer and producer John Hughes.
Review by Lyndell Clark ★★★★ 3

Love this movie. Hadn't seen it in years.

Recent reviews

Review by Active Procrastinator ★★★

Super underrated
Review by ChadS101 ★★★

2020 Project DVR
A rehashed (lesser) version of Uncle Buck. I enjoyed it because it had all of the beats of a John Hughes film. Sort of like comfort food, a macaroni and cheese movie....
Review by Jason ★★½

This feels like John Hughes’ first draft of Planes, Trains & Automobiles that he found one day when he was cleaning out his garage. Essentially the exact same story except switch out Steve Martin for a pubescent Ethan Embry playing a nasty little shit I wanted to punch in the face for the entirety of the movie. Ed O’Neill’s in the John Candy role and he’s trying really hard to be funny. He’s more successful in the dramatic moments which don’t sit all that well with the tired Home Alone-style slapstick. This is from the director of Crocodile Dundee and he seems unsure how to juggle the unique tonal shifts that happen naturally in Hughes’ best work. Unfortunately for him, this is also not Hughes’ best work.
Review by Erin Shanks ★★★

Fuck that republican kid
Review by McLeodRyan ★★★★

Fun movie from the early 90’s that I really enjoy. Favorite quote: “If you hurt her, I’ll hit you so fxxking hard, your dog will bleed. Nice meeting you.”
Review by Adam ★½

Watched because of this
Not good.
Review by sushiboy963 ★★★½

It has some pretty funny moments and Ed O'Neal is great in the role. I really hoped the kid would just get clobbered though. I really hadn't ever bothered to watch this movie and several people recommended it to me and I'm glad I gave this a shot. Its a fun Thanksgiving movie.
Review by Pandora 4 ★★★

Film #7 in my Christmas Movies 2019 viewings.
A Thanksgiving movie, not a Christmas movie, I know, I know, but I think this one can receive the title of being an "honorary christmas" movie.
The themes and feel good parts are straight out of a christmas movie, plus it is "holiday themed". Plus it is fitting to watch over Thanksgiving weekend.
Christmas rating: Lots of snow, and turkey, and thematically is about having the holiday spirit- but still not set during christmas so I'll have to give this 2/5.
Review by JerAdams ★★★★

Dutch > Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
(Both written by John Hughes and have the same structure but Ed O’Neill as Dutch Dooley is forever my jam.)