By Robert Scucci
| Published
Whenever Bio-Dome makes its rounds on streaming, I’m absolutely paralyzed by the hypnotic call of The Weasel (Hey, Buddyyyy!) because I’m the type of person who occasionally likes to watch a manchild talk in dude-speak while freaking out squares, and Pauly Shore’s comedy is specifically designed to scratch that itch. When I saw that Son in Law was streaming on Hulu, I had to get in on the action because I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched the film with intent as an adult, and my body was covered in a hideous rash that my primary care physician attributed to severe Weasel withdrawal.
After constructing a Scooby-Doo sized sandwich accompanied by a leaning tower of cheeza, I refamiliarized myself with Son in Law because I’m 36, the rat-race is horrifying, and this fish-out-of-water story embodies the rural getaway that I’ve so desperately been craving as of late.
From Los Angeles To South Dakota
Son in Law’s primary characters couldn’t be any more different when we’re first introduced to Becca Warner (Carla Gugino), a South Dakota farm girl who gets accepted into a Los Angeles college, where she meets Fred “Crawl” Weasel (Pauly Shore). Crawl, the university’s resident advisor, is care-free, flamboyant, the life of the party, and the king of the campus, which allows him to help Becca break out of her shell and enjoy college life when she has second thoughts about being so far away from home. When Becca realizes that Crawl has nobody to go home to during Thanksgiving break, she invites him back home to meet her family because the idea of a lonely Weasel staring at the walls is too much for her to handle.
Learning that her longtime boyfriend, Travis (Dan Gauthier), plans to propose to her, Crawl surmises that she’s not ready to commit to marriage, but afraid to hurt his feelings. Lacking subtlety because he’s Pauly Shore, Crawl blurts out that Becca is already engaged to him, shocking and horrifying her family, but at the very least buying Becca some time to figure out what she wants out of life.
Classic Fish Out Of Water Story
As Son in Law progresses into its second and third acts, you get all the familiar beats you’d expect in a film about a progressive city boy trying to get his hands dirty on a farm in order to win over Becca’s family. But there’s a wholesomeness that Crawl possesses in Son in Law because despite his abrasive and obnoxious personality, he’s genuinely trying his absolute best to become an ideal farmhand for somebody he’s only pretending to be romantically involved with.
With Becca’s father, Walter (Lane Smith), and his farmhand, Theo (Dennis Burkley), trying to sabotage Crawl’s efforts every step of the way, Crawl surprises everybody by actually learning how to be an effective farmer (with some missteps along the way). Further infiltrating the Warner family, Crawl gives Becca’s mother, Connie (Cindy Pickett), a boost of confidence by giving her a makeover, as well as helping younger brother Zack (Patrick Renna) with his computer games.
As Crawl and Becca continue to bond and form what seems to be a real relationship in Son in Law, it’s only natural that Travis is meddling in the background, also trying to sabotage the relationship that he doesn’t know is still very-much a ruse.
Destined To Be A Cult Classic
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Pauly Shore’s stoned slacker persona of the ‘90s holds up surprisingly well in 2025, and Son in Law somehow has staying power. Maybe it’s because we’re living in the era of prestige television where everything has to have layers upon layers of serious subtext, and it’s refreshing to watch Crawl, or “The Weasel,” do his thing and run amok like a Day-Glo Koosh ball jam-packed with sexual innuendo. Or maybe, just maybe, Pauly Shore was brave enough to be unapologetically goofy while somehow showing sincerity in this context because he’s clearly having a great time acting like a fool’s fool.
As of this writing, you can stream Son in Law on Hulu. Don’t expect anything profound when you hit ‘play’… I cannot stress that enough. But if you’re willing to turn off your brain for 95 minutes and enjoy some good old fashioned screwball comedy, you’re in for a treat.
