It's warren's birthday, and just everything is going wrong. His wife wants to remodel the house, and seems to be shagging the contractor. And she refuses to cook for warren. His only escape is to pretend he's been taken hostage. But of course that goes wrong too, and he really does get taken hostage. It's a great premise, but it just stumbles along. It's more chaotic than funny. There are some fun actors here... george wendt is warren, and his wife is played by robin duke (the waitress from groundhog day!) warren's father in law is john vernon (dean wormer, from animal house). Of course, john candy has a cameo. It's all way over the top; the acting, the script. The longest pauses you've ever heard in a movie. Were they waiting for laughter that didn't happen? And chris templeton always seems to be in shots by herself. Did they film most of her shots at her own house? It's possible her medical challenges were already limiting her in some ways. The movie is so disjointed. There's lot of action, but about the only people who interact are warren and his wife, or the wife and hondo the contractor! Don lake (plays lieutenant sneed) really played up the humor. Too bad the rest of the film wasn't as good. And who exactly is ronnie?? What a mess. Can't really recommend this one. It's the one and only film john candy directed. Sadly, he died march 4 1994, and didn't get to see it released april 25. Chris templeton also died young at 58.
Review of Hostage for a Day
