Dunston Checks In

A daft family farce, this has Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander as a widower with two kids who is also the manager of a swanky hotel. His bitch of a boss (Dunaway) wants him to work when he should be on vacation with his family, because a hotel inspector is rumoured to be visiting, and things are further complicated by difficult guest Lord Rutledge (Everett, devilishly villainous), who, unbeknownst to everyone, is actually a con artist with an orang-utan pet that is trained to rob hotel guests.
Parents may think this sounds awful, but it’s actually an entertaining zany comedy, in which everyone overacts as if they are in panto, but do so with infectious glee. It’s pretty imaginative and never sentimental, packed with slapstick and silly performances, including a nice turn from Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman), a bonkers pet detective.