Jerry Hubbard
Staff Writer
November 23, 2021
While Thanksgiving has a handful of movies that celebrate the season, “Son in Law” is the only Thanksgiving rom-com that Google will recommend.
We follow Becca (played by Carla Gugino), a valedictorian of her small rural town, packing her bags up to pursue a higher education in the big city where (her parents find out) people get tattoos, students kiss, and a long-haired maniac (played by Pauly Shore) is the student advisor. As Thanksgiving break rolls around, Crawl, the student advisor, has nowhere to go. Becca invites Crawl to join her and her family for the break. Hijinks ensue, and Crawl becomes close to Becca’s family, learning the South Dakota farmer life. As the movie continues, Crawl saves Becca’s grandfather, there's a subplot of Becca’s high school “boyfriend,” and Crawl becomes engaged to Becca.
IMDB, Son in Law with Pauly Shore (as Crawl) on a tractor
From this entertaining mess, the part that I enjoyed most was when Becca felt out of place on Halloween. As a party rages throughout the dorm, Crawl pulls her aside from the party to explain how he also felt out of place in college, as he was a “dork” hacker from Vegas who grew up and changed into the person he was today. He helps Becca settle into California by taking her out to explore the city, buy new clothes, get a new hairstyle, and hang out at the beach. Who wouldn’t like a person to guide them around the city and its craziness?
My least favorite character would obviously be Becca’s ex-boyfriend, Travis, as he is unable to move on from Becca. While it might be hard to accept for him, Travis did not fall in love with who Becca is as a person; he fell in love with the idea of a valedictorian farm girl who he thought would stay in that little town instead of moving on and doing something with her life.
At the end of the movie, Travis drugs Crawl and one of Becca's close friends to make it look like Oh, Crawl slept with your best friend; now date me, Becca. What makes Travis think this ridiculous plan would work? Did Travis think Becca would just drop out of college and be his cottagecore girlfriend?
Overall, “Son in Law” is a good Thanksgiving rom-com that I would recommend to anyone looking for something new to watch this season. I would personally recommend watching this with a parent who lived through the 90s so you can understand all the intricacies of Shore.