Welcome back to my blog. Here’s my recommendation of a movie to check out today and hope you punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” OK, let’s check out a little-remembered film that was written by the legendary John Hughes and it is called “Dutch” and it stars Ed O’Neill, Ethan Embry, JoBeth Williams and Christopher McDonald. Hughes was just the writer and executive producer and didn’t also direct as he did in other of his writing efforts.
“Dutch” is the story of “Dutch Dooley,” who owns a construction company and his girlfriend (Williams) is the former wife of a snooty businessman (McDonald) and they have an even snootier son (Embry, who was billed in the film as Ethan Randall). Since McDonald was leaving the boy at prep school over the Thanksgiving holiday, O’Neill offers to go bring the boy home.
A mistake. A big, big mistake. Embry is such a total and arrogant snob, you’d vote to leave him alone at school for the rest of his life and not just a holiday week.
Of course, the stereotypes build quickly in “Dutch” from O’Neill’s disaster of a first meeting with Embry and then on to some tough love from O’Neill and finally the bonding you expect to witness. Of course, you’ll also enjoy the film because Hughes is the author of the screenplay and its endearing scenes make this one stay in your mind a bit longer than too many other vapid comedies.
The penultimate scene in “Dutch” is at a homeless shelter where O’Neill and Embry must spend a night after getting ditched by two hookers who gave them a ride after O’Neill’s car was destroyed in a crash with a train (watch the film, the context is OK). Embry sets up his dinner as if he were at the Ritz as others watch in amazement and then learns a lesson in humility talking to the daughter of the homeless family that befriends him and O’Neill.
“Dutch” is far, far from even cinematic competence, but is actually a nice story that’s well-told, but unevenly brought to the big screen.
So, I say punch your “Ticket to the Movies!” and watch “Dutch.” It was available only on the Netflix subscription service at the 2026 update of this review and was also available to rent on several other streaming services. So, find it! Watch it! Don’t worry, you’ll thank me later for “Dutch.”
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