Gone Fishin'

Why do we remember some movies so much more clearly than others? I’ve watched classic movies, movies I should fall in love with, and within a day or so of watching said movie I can’t remember much about it.  And that’s not even considering if I did actually like the movie. On the other hand, I can remember awful, godforsaken movies and every little detail about them. So goes 1997’s Gone Fishin’.

Of all the things I remember from growing up, I typically remember strange little details about meeting people, about major events, and in this case…why I love Gone Fishin’. On a day off from school when I was in 7^th or 8^th grade, my Mom rented two or three movies for my sister and I to watch so hopefully we would stay out of trouble at home with no adult supervision. Dun-dun-duh! Gone Fishin’ was one of those classics, and even now I remember my sister bailing on it about 20 or 30 minutes in. Me? I stuck through it until the end. It became a running joke with my cousin since about how great a movie it is. Is it? Nope, not at all. It’s actually a really bad movie with two otherwise great actors slumming it. And through it all, I love every minute.

Next door neighbors who have been friends since childhood, Gus (Danny Glover) and Joe (Joe Pesci) have won a contest with the grand prize being a tricked out fishing trip in the Florida Everglades. Amateur fishermen that they are, the duo heads to Florida excited for what awaits. Instead almost upon arrival, Joe’s classic Blue Barracuda is stolen, and they’re left stranded with nothing but their small fishing boat. They quickly find out that the man who stole the car is actually a con man and a killer (Nick Brimble), rumored to have millions of dollars in cash and jewels hidden away somewhere in the Everglades. All they wanted to do was go fishing and relax, but now Gus and Joe – bumbling fishermen that they are – get wrapped up in this crazy predicament where anything could happen.

Doesn’t really sound like a comedy, does it? The story is beyond ridiculous right from the get-go and ends up playing like an extended episode of I Love Lucy with Gus and Joe replacing Lucy and Ethel.  What crazy situations won’t these two childhood friends get into? Pilot a runaway boat on a highway? Check. Have one be a sleep-walker and accidentally light their hotel room on fire? You bet. Get in a brawl with a vengeful alligator? Comic gold, and it’s all here.  It builds to an appropriately insane ending with Gus, Joe and the killer (NAME) chasing each other across the swamps on airboats. Subtle humor this is not. We’re talking lowest common denominator in terms of humor here, but it still manages to work. Gone Fishin’ is not trying to be a classic comedy. It’s just funny.

Having worked together a couple times already in the Lethal Weapon series, Glover and Pesci team up again here as Gus and Joe.  My first reaction upon revisiting this movie was that someone had some dirt on these two and blackmailed them into taking the movie. What could have prompted them to take this movie? Without stars like them, this would have been a straight to DVD/VHS movie that would be even more forgotten than it already is with them involved. But you know what? The duo – ever the professionals – commit to the story and characters. They have a great chemistry together that carries the movie through all its ridiculousness. They are funny together, setting each other up nicely in each scene. And if Pesci repeatedly lisping ‘Hey…Gussh’ doesn’t put a smile on your face, this ain’t your movie. 

As if seeing these two typically solid actors slumming it here wasn't enough, Gone Fishin' includes a couple other actors making appearances that similarly question what made them take this movie.  Rosanna Arquette and  Lynn Whitfield play Rita and Angie, two women who pick up Gus and Joe on the road and coincidentally enough also have an interest in getting their hands on the killer.  The point of these characters is never really explained although it does give Glover and Pesci a chance to use their "killer" look on the two women in hopes of impressing them.  Also in the pointless cameo department, country singer Willie Nelson makes an appearance as legendary fisherman Billy "Catch" Pooler, saving the boys from certain doom and receding into the background as quickly as he appeared.

You watch a movie like this and can't believe you're watching such a horrible movie.  Is it intentionally stupid, or did all the talent involved think this was a legitimately good flick?  None of that is even relevant though. Yes, it's awful and downright stupid right from the start. Somehow it gets worse as the story moves along. At one point, Glover and Pesci even fight with an alligator.  But through it all, it's a funny (if stupid) movie.  I laughed a ton, and even acting well below their ability, Glover and Pesci have a great chemistry together. Just know you won't be watching a modern classic, and wallow in the badness that is Gone Fishin'.

Gone Fishin' (1997): ***/****