Summer Rental

Episode 148: Summer Rental (1985)

Theme: Candy Land — A Month of John Candy
Hosts: Oz & Curtis

This week, Oz and Curtis wrap up Candy Land with Summer Rental — the movie that asks, “What if Caddyshack, Splash, The Way Way Back, and Sailor Moon all collided on a Florida beach long enough for John Candy to sunburn himself into hallucinations?” It’s the only vacation film where unpacking a U-Haul, getting mauled by a frisbee, and committing assault-by-fish-sticks are treated as normal summertime activities.

Join your two favorite beach-adjacent life coaches as they unpack:

• How Jack Chester is both the most stressed man alive and the least prepared father to ever bring a family to Florida.

• Why Al Pellet is the ultimate 80s villain, complete with yacht-based privilege and a laugh you can smell through the screen.

• The neighbors whose personalities are “Judge” and “Here, feel my new boobs.”

• Scully the pirate bartender, who may be the only sane person in the entire town.

• The boat regatta finale, where pants become sails and frozen fish sticks turn into tactical nautical weapons.

From cooler leaks to lifeguard jockstraps, from dart-throwing injuries to real estate-based villainy, Oz and Curtis drift through a movie that’s thin on plot but thick with 80s energy. It’s messy, it’s sunburnt, it’s fishy — and somehow, it still feels like summer.

Final Verdict

Oz — $2,000
Curtis — 61 boxes of fish sticks
Both — Still wondering how Jack managed to hit Scully with a dart, a ceiling fan, and himself in under three minutes.