Let's be real: Summer Rental is a relic. With a 19% critic score and 52% audience rating, even people in 1985 thought it was mediocre. Forty years later, the dated humor, tired premise (stressed dad, everything goes wrong, boat race to prove masculinity), and lack of any real charm make this a tough sell for modern families.
There's nothing actively harmful here—it's rated for age 11 and won't traumatize anyone—but there's also nothing particularly worthwhile. The 'don't give up' message is buried under layers of slapstick mishaps and predictable plotting. If your kid stumbles onto this on Hulu and watches 20 minutes, they'll probably wander off to do something more interesting.
Unless you have a specific nostalgia reason or you've literally exhausted every other option, skip this one. There are dozens of better family comedies from every era that actually hold up.
