carla gugino graduates from high school and instead of staying in her small farming town , she goes to college in california . there she meets the residential advisor pauly shore , who is a city boy . when gugino goes back home for thanksgiving , she brings shore with her , and her parents ( lane smith and cindy pickett ) are less than thrilled . dan gauthier , gugino's boyfriend from high school , proposes to gugino . gugino isn't ready for anything like this so she makes up the story that she is engaged to shore . she and shore have to make it look like they are engaged while her parents try to make it end . forget jurassic park , cliffhanger , the firm and last action hero , son-in-law is the film to see this summer . son-in-law is a great romantic comedy that should please the viewers , especially fans of the wiez . when son-in-law is long gone and forgotten , the blockbuster summer films will still be playing and you will have a chance to see them then . this film could also make great video fare for those that are leery of spending seven dollars on it . nothing will be lost by watching it on a television screen . although the basic story line has been done many , many times before , the film is still fun to watch . the laughs are plentiful , especially when the wiez is around . the way some of the jokes are done are new , even though some of the jokes are old . there are also several new jokes that , at least , i haven't seen before . still , when presented right , even old material can be funny still . this film is just basically a light comedy that is great to see if you are in the right mood that doesn't contain much violence or any nudity that is definitely worth full ticket price . the cast for this film does an excellent job . pauly shore ( encino man ) is the star attraction of this film . he is great , and knows how to entertain the audience . pauly shore just seems to take over the entire screen when he is on with expressions and comments that are hilarious . this film would definitely not have been as good with anyone else in this role . carla gugino does a very good job as the farm girl gone city girl . she makes her character believable , on some levels , yet interesting at the same time . the person who played the grandfather ( mason adams , i believe ) also does a great job . the way he delivered his lines kept me laughing throughout the time that he was on the screen . patrick renna , who played gugino's little brother , was a little annoying , but no where as near as macaulay culkin , and for only part of the time , so i can forgive him . tiffani-amber thiessen ( a killer among friends , " saved by the bell " ) does a reasonably good job for the time that she is on screen . she shows that she may have a potential in movies if she can get out of the corny young adults programming on television . she wasn't given overly much to do in the film , but what she had , she does a good job with .
