GONE FISHIN'

"GONE FISHIN'"
(1997) (Joe Pesci, Danny Glover) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	*None	Moderate	Minor	Mild

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	Minor	Minor	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	Mild	None	Minor	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: Two lifelong fishing buddies must overcome a series of obstacles to enjoy their ultimate fishing trip.

PLOT:: Joe Waters (JOE PESCI) and Gus Green (DANNY GLOVER) are lifelong fishing buddies who've recently won a fishing trip to the Everglades. They pack up their gear and drive from Jersey to Florida with their boat in tow, but along the way, however, they meet Dekker Massey (NICK BRIMBLE), a con artist who steals their car. They then meet Rita (ROSANNA ARQUETTE) and Angie (LYNN WHITFIELD) who are looking for Massey and find out that he's wanted for marriage fraud and for the death of one of his brides. After they discover what they think is the murder weapon and a map to Massey's stolen goods, Joe and Gus figure they can get the reward posted for him and then continue with their fishing trip.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: The movie is aimed at a young audience with its low brow humor, but unless kids are fans of either Pesci -- the bad guy in "Home Alone" -- or Glover -- the other half of the "Lethal Weapon" team -- it's doubtful that many children will want to see this.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For mild violence and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: Both JOE PESCI and DANNY GLOVER play somewhat dim-witted characters who only wish to go fishing, but end up tangled with a criminal. Although they're relatively harmless, they're not the best role models around.
NICK BRIMBLE plays the two-dimensional, stereotypical bad guy who supposedly killed a woman and ran off with his other bride's money.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 1 out of 10: This movie was reportedly sitting on the shelf at Disney (the owner of Hollywood Pictures) for quite some time and wasn't given an advanced screening for the press or the public. Both of those are sure signs that the film is usually going to be bad and in this case that is correct. A horribly written, sloppily directed comedy that isn't remotely funny, the biggest question about this production is what was on Pesci and Glover's minds when they decided to make this film. No one in their right mind would have agreed to this if the initial script even remotely looked like the final production. It's actually surprising that this release wasn't earmarked to go straight to video, particularly when it's up against a ton of heavyweight competition this summer and will surely be out of the theaters in just a few weeks at most. While the acting style and the occasional frenzied action appear to be geared for kids, there's not enough here to entertain the young crowd and older kids, as well as adults, will be bored out of their minds. Many long, laborious scenes go on forever -- such as one where Joe and Gus buy a boat -- and aren't funny and seem to be there just to extend the film's running time to the desired and needed length. And a scene where Willie Nelson, as a fishing lure expert, saves the two while backlit like an angel is hilariously bad. Other scenes are meant to showcase these two as a sort of "Dumb and Dumber" duo, such as when the two struggle to push their boat on a trailer down the road after their car has been stolen. While the Jim Carrey/Jeff Daniels movie was goofy enough to get away with a scene like that, these two characters aren't that far gone and thus the scene doesn't work. Nor do many of them, what with the stereotypical bad guy and events that are telegraphed from such a distance you can see them coming from the theater across the hall. In conclusion, the two biggest mistakes concerning this film are that it was ever made and was then released. Our advice? Go fishing, or anywhere else to avoid going to the theater to see this mess. We give it a 1 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: Although the movie is very bad, there aren't a lot of bad things in it. Still, a few things are worth considering. The fact that Dekker is said to have killed a woman is reported (but not seen) and does nothing for the movie other than supposedly make him a more dangerous fellow. A few scenes may be a little tense for very young viewers, but most others shouldn't have any problem watching them. Dekker gets a little rough with Joe in one scene and there are several uses of the word "freakin" in place of the "f" word, but that's the worst of the language. Beyond a little drinking, smoking, and a few women briefly seen in bikinis, there isn't a great deal else to object to in this film. Nonetheless, if your children wish to see this film, we suggest that you read through the content listings to determine if it's appropriate or not for them.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Joe and Gus have cases of beer in the boat they're towing behind the car, but they're never seen drinking it.
Joe briefly mentions being five when he first tasted beer.
The manager of a run down fishing lodge drinks beer when Joe and Gus arrive at night, and is also seen drinking the next morning.
Joe and Gus have wine in a fancy restaurant and later, when Rita and Angie join them, they order champagne, but it's never seen.

BLOOD/GORE: None. Although it's mentioned that there's blood on a knife they find in the glove compartment, it's not seen.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Dekker has both as he marries women for their money and then leaves them. He also reportedly killed a woman and threatens Joe and Gus.
Dekker steals Joe's car.
Both Joe and Gus call Rita and Angie "babes."
A boat dealer's female assistant is used just as eye candy for the characters in the film as well as for the audience and serves no purpose other than to be looked at.
Rita gives a valet twenty dollars to look through Joe's car.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: A few scenes may be intense for very young viewers, but otherwise they rate as minor.
Joe and Gus barely get their boat off some railroad tracks before the train passes by them.
Joe is hit by lightning and some younger kids may be scared by that and the fact that he falls to the ground unconscious and smoking. Moments later he's okay.
Joe and Gus go into a swampy cave and an alligator watches and then grabs a briefcase and they wrestle with it.
Dekker is a bit menacing toward Gus, and particularly Joe, in one scene.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Knife: Found in Joe's car and supposedly used by Dekker to kill a woman.
Handgun: Used by Dekker to threaten Joe and Gus.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Idiots," "Holy smokes," "Dorks," "Babes" (for women), "Slob," "Stupid," "Jerk," "Nuts" (testicles), "Creep," and "Screwing up."
Gus jumps from the back of an El Camino to the boat that's being towed behind it.
Gus, who's sleepwalking, strikes a match and instead of lighting a fire, he sets his pillow on fire.
Joe tries to spit on Dekker, but ends up just spitting on himself.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There are a few scenes with just a minor bit of suspenseful music in them.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): There's a Willie Nelson song that includes a line about getting drunk from wine, and later the two men sing that line.

PROFANITY: There are three uses of "freakin'" instead of the "f" word.
1 hell and 1 damn are used as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: A boat dealer shows Joe and Gus a "nudie" picture of a woman on a boat, but it turns out she's wearing a bikini.
A few other women are seen in bikinis at a reception.

SMOKING: Joe is occasionally seen with a cigar, and a few times it's lit. In the movie's first scene, Joe (as a kid) has one of his dad's cigars and lights it up, inhales, and chokes on the smoke.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Why Glover and Pesci signed on to do this movie and why you didn't pick a better movie to see.

VIOLENCE: As kids, Gus takes a cigar that Joe's choking on and tosses it aside. It lands on and ignites some oily rocks outside a power plant that then catches the plant's overflow pipe on fire and causes a few explosions at the plant.
Gus leaves his crane work post and accidentally hits a lever causing a large container to fall and crush a shed below it.
The guys' wives say that if their husbands aren't back by Thanksgiving, "we've agreed to kill you" (said as a joke).
Dekker steals Joe's car and as he's driving away, the boat behind it comes loose and crashes into a diner.
Joe and Gus hear that Dekker reportedly stabbed a woman to death.
Pesci tosses aside his lit cigar at a gas station and ignites the gasoline causing a fire.
The guys lose control of their boat and crash into a few other boats, but don't cause too much damage.
Gus, who's sleepwalking, strikes a match and instead of lighting a fire, he sets his pillow on fire. Joe puts that out, but later the hotel manager comes inside, and not knowing the gas fireplace is still spewing gas, flips the light switch. The spark ignites the gas and a big explosion engulfs the room and catches it on fire. Later, the manager is seen charred, but relatively okay.
Gus wrestles with an alligator that Joe then punches and kicks.
Dekker holds his gun on Gus and Joe. After Joe won't shut up, Dekker grabs him by the throat and begins to choke him. He then smacks him, and says, "I could kill you now, but it's not worth it."

Reviewed May 30, 1997

Other new and recent reviews include:

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.