DUTCH (1991) | The Thanksgiving Classic Nobody Talks About (Low)

We went Low on Dutch (1991), but let's get something straight right away: neither of us thinks this is a Low. John Hughes' Dutch is one of the most underappreciated Thanksgiving comedies ever made, and we have been watching it every holiday season for years.

Is it predictable? Absolutely. Is it basically Planes, Trains and Automobiles with a working-class guy and a spoiled kid instead of two grown men? Pretty much. But that is exactly why it works. You can see every piece of the John Hughes formula clicking into place: opposites forced together, increasingly ridiculous travel disasters, class conflict, unexpected friendship, and a sentimental payoff just in time for Thanksgiving.

None of that bothers us. Being able to see the machinery does not mean the machinery isn't working. And in Dutch, the machinery works beautifully.

In this episode, we revisit Dutch, directed by Peter Faiman, written by John Hughes, and starring Ed O'Neill as Dutch Dooley, Ethan Embry as Doyle Standish, and Christopher McDonald as Doyle's wealthy, manipulative father.

The premise is pure Hughes. Dutch is a working-class regular guy dating Natalie, a divorced mother whose ex-husband has once again decided that being a father is somebody else's problem. When her 12-year-old son Doyle needs to get home from boarding school for Thanksgiving, Dutch volunteers to pick him up.

What should be a straightforward drive from Georgia to Chicago becomes an escalating disaster involving BB guns, fireworks, a destroyed car, diner warfare, hitchhiking, a homeless shelter, and two people who would rather be anywhere than in each other's company.

One of the first things we talk about is how badly this movie was received when it came out. Dutch was both a critical and financial disappointment, and we think its release date may have been a major factor. Why was a Thanksgiving road-trip comedy released in July 1991, competing with massive summer movies like Terminator 2 and Point Break? This is a movie that belongs in November, when audiences are thinking about family, travel, uncomfortable reunions, and getting home for the holidays.

The biggest High is Ed O'Neill. He is basically playing a warmer, more emotionally intelligent version of Al Bundy, without losing any of the working-class attitude that makes him so funny. Dutch is blunt, stubborn, sarcastic, occasionally reckless, and completely unimpressed by wealthy people who think their money makes them better than everyone else. We love that O'Neill never feels like a traditional movie star. He looks and acts like somebody's dad. 

But Ethan Embry deserves just as much credit. Doyle is a spectacularly obnoxious little kid, and Embry plays him with absolute conviction. He's articulate, smug, entitled, and convinced that Dutch is beneath him. But the performance becomes much more impressive as the movie progresses, because Doyle's transformation never feels completely fraudulent.

We argue that even though the movie is called Dutch, it is really Doyle's story. Dutch does not change very much. Doyle is the one who has to stop imitating his father's worst qualities and start figuring out who he actually wants to be.

That is the emotional heart of the movie. Doyle has spent his childhood being manipulated by a wealthy father who uses money and status to poison him against his mother. Dutch cannot compete with that wealth, but he can show Doyle something his father never has: genuine concern for other people.

And naturally, John Hughes delivers those lessons through some absolutely ridiculous comedy.

The boarding school confrontation is a perfect introduction to their relationship. Dutch shows up to retrieve Doyle and immediately gets attacked, karate-chopped, kicked, and shot with a BB gun. The whole sequence eventually ends with Dutch carrying the kid out tied to a hockey stick.

Then there is the fireworks scene, which might be the first moment we realize these two could actually become friends. Dutch wants to show Doyle a good time, and Doyle cannot help enjoying himself, even while desperately pretending he isn't. Of course, Dutch accidentally blows up the entire bag of fireworks.

We also spend plenty of time on the car accident, which is one of the movie's most important turning points. Doyle's attempt to get even with Dutch results in their car being destroyed by a truck. For the first time, his behavior has consequences beyond inconveniencing the person he hates. Dutch forces him to recognize that the truck driver could have been seriously hurt or killed.

And because this is a John Hughes comedy, that serious lesson is followed by Dutch teaching Doyle how to throw a proper punch, only to get knocked flat on his ass.

Then comes the diner scene, which might be our favorite scene in the entire movie. Dutch finally realizes he cannot keep matching Doyle's energy, so he lets the kid learn what happens when you cannot pay for your own breakfast.

The payoff is glorious: Dutch walking out with a full stomach while Doyle watches him burp in satisfaction.

Nothing burps better than bacon.

One of the biggest reasons we love Dutch is that it never lets its emotional lessons completely overwhelm the comedy.

The hitchhiking sequence with two women who turn out to be prostitutes is ridiculous, but it also exposes Doyle's hypocrisy about class and respectability. The gas station scene, where Dutch spectacularly tears his pants, is still hilarious after countless rewatches. And the homeless shelter sequence gives Doyle a genuine glimpse of people living without the advantages he has always taken for granted.

We particularly love the moment when a little girl reaches for part of Doyle's dinner roll. His first instinct is to protect what belongs to him. Then he stops, thinks, and offers it to her. It is a small gesture, but it communicates more about his growth than a big speech ever could.

We do have a couple of Lows.

The movie rarely questions Dutch's methods, even when he makes decisions that are manipulative, dangerous, or wildly irresponsible. Because Doyle eventually improves, the screenplay seems to conclude that Dutch was right about everything. That is probably worth questioning.

But our biggest Low is the end credits song. After delivering such a warm Thanksgiving ending, the movie suddenly launches into Ziggy Marley's “Give a Little Love.” We have nothing against the song, but it feels completely disconnected from the movie we just watched.

Still, none of that changes our verdict.

Dutch is funny, warm, nostalgic, ridiculously quotable, and much better than its reputation suggests. It knows exactly where it is going, and we know where it is going too. The pleasure comes from watching these two characters take the most entertaining possible route to get there.

This isn't a guilty pleasure. It is an underappreciated Thanksgiving classic, and for us, an essential part of the holiday season.

• Dutch 1991 movie review

• John Hughes' Dutch

• Peter Faiman's Dutch

• Ed O'Neill as Dutch Dooley

• Ethan Embry as Doyle Standish

• Christopher McDonald as Doyle's father

• Dutch as an underrated Thanksgiving movie

• Dutch vs Planes, Trains and Automobiles

• John Hughes road-trip comedies

• Why Dutch failed at the box office

• Dutch's July 1991 release date

• Ed O'Neill and Al Bundy comparisons

• Dutch boarding school BB gun scene

• Dutch fireworks scene

• Dutch car accident and truck driver scene

• Dutch diner scene and bacon quote

• Dutch hitchhiking and gas station scenes

• Dutch homeless shelter scene

• Dutch ending and father-son relationship

• Ziggy Marley's “Give a Little Love” end credits song