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Plot Summary
Harried Mr. Hobbs (James Stewart) is tired out by his hectic life in the city. His wife, Peggy, finally manages to convince him to take the family on a seaside vacation where they can all be together for once. This, of course, is only the beginning of Mr. Hobbs' life getting much, much more harried than he had ever imagined. With their four children, the husbands of their two eldest daughters and their two grandchildren in tow, the Hobbs family arrives at their rented ocean cottage to find that it's a dark, ramshackle place with a byzantine water pump as dangerous as any mouse trap. That's just the start of the problems. Disaster and discord begin to ensue. Can Mr. Hobbs hold his family together long enough to survive this vacation?
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
80%- Reviews Counted: 15
- Fresh: 12
- Rotten: 3
- Average Rating: 5.9/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Some of the incidents are funny, some are so-so, some are flat. And, of course, in the end, it is concluded that for all this, the family is still strong.
Rotten: Since there are no recognizable humans in it, Mr. Hobbs is really strictly for the bird watchers.
Fresh: This is a fun picture, although it misfires, chiefly in the situation development department.
Fresh: A wholesome family comedy with Stewart and O'Hara as a couple whose quiet vacation becomes a noisy free-for-all for the kids.
Customer Reviews
My first Stewart
I saw this movie on a double feature with Elvis Presley's Kissing Cousins when I was about 12, and just loved it. It was my introduction to Jimmy Stewart. I'd never seen him before but I stayed up late watching the Late Show (used to come on after Johnny Carson was over), and caught every one of his movies after this. At first I thought he was a comic actor. Then I saw The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, Anatomy of a Murder, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and began to understand the range of this genius. There's not an actor currently alive who can capture the the different depths that Jimmy Stewart could arrive at. Recent I thought, who would you get to remake Harvey? And realized it would be a pointless effort. Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation is a very funny story about a middle-class man whose life follows him even when he tries to get away. He remains sane by keeping a laid-back attitude to everything that comes at him.
Ahhhh, memories.
The first time I saw this movie I was about 10 years old and the family was huddled around the T.V. eating fudge and popcorn. We laughed a lot as Mom gushed over John Saxon and Dad hooted over Maureen O'Hara (That's a Grandma?) I think it's got something every family who has ever vacationed together can relate to on some level. I used to have this on VHS and when I stumbled on it here I had to buy it. It may not be the "Great American Movie", but it's worth taking the time to make a little fudge, pop some corn and gather the family in front of the T.V. to have a few hours of fun. Oh, and is that the ugliest family station wagon you ever saw???
One of my favorites!
Lighthearted fun. I got this on VHS when I was a kid and watched it over and over. I'm glad to see it's available here. It's really one of my favorites with Jimmy Stewart. Definitely worth buying.
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- $14.99
- Genre: Comedy
- Released: 2005
- © 1962 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Renewed 1990 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.