Customer Reviews

Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss [VHS]

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hey, movie viewers! If you liked the great 1983 movie, A Christmas Story, which was narrated by, and based on a novel by Jean Shepherd, you'll really like this hilarious 1988 comedy!
It's about a teen named Ralph Parker and his family who live in Indiana in the late 40's or early 50's, who go on a vacation every year to a lake in Michigan, and stay at a resort by the lake called Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss, which consists of 6 log cabins. Unfortunately, the family dog, Fuzzhead, has disappeared, and the mother refuses to leave until Fuzzhead is found. After a long 2 weeks, they finally find her, so now it's Vacation Time! They travel by car to Michigan with lots of laughs along the way! Like I mentioned earlier, this movie is narrated by Jean Shepherd, who does the voice for Old Ralph, and makes a brief appearance as Mr. Scott, Ralph's boss. This movie is very similar to Christmas Story, even the characters names are the same! The only real difference is that this takes place in the summer! This movie was a TV movie, made for The Disney Channel. Filmed in the DFW area of Texas, and released in August 1988, this movie is GREAT for all ages. So if you liked A Christmas Story, get this movie! Im tellin' ya, it's KOOL!!

We first watched this movie while on vacation in Monterey in 1991 (our Sideways vacation to wine/golf country). We must have picked up the PBS channel on our hotel TV. When we got home I again viewed this on PBS and threw in a VHS tape to record this show. Ollie has now become our absolute favorite show regarding family life and a family 'car' vacation. We bring this tape on every vacation trip and enjoy it over and over. We now have a child of our own and she cracks up everytime the sandwich gets run over by the truck. I have begged Disney and Buena Vista to release this movie on DVD but still haven't seen any effort on their part. Though the production quality isn't as good as Christmas or Summer story (it was made for TV) it is still a must have video for any parent. Come on Disney get with the program and release this just once on DVD.

We have watched this movie for years on VHS but now the time has come to toss the old machine - and we want to upgrade to a DVD version. Alas, no DVD has yet been released of this great movie. Time for that to change... Amazon, can you hurry this along? I would be first in line to buy it.

From the shadow of the steel mills in northern Indiana comes this charming little tale by "Christmas Story" writer Jean Shepherd. Herein is a relaxed and familiar comedy for the whole family, but probably best suited to an older audience.
Jerry O'Connell takes over the role of Shepherd's literary persona, Ralph, with James B. Sikking applying his prodigious talent to the role of the "old man." The movie actually contains three plotlines, one about Ralph taking a summer job, one about the family losing their dog, and the final story about the family cartrip to Michigan for some fishing. This is familiar territory for my family, as we have lived/been born/vacationed/worked in northern Indiana or southern Michigan for my whole life.
The job subplot isn't bad, but the dog story comes from a little out of left field. The vacation story is the over-arching story, and the road trip part of the movie will be very familar to any good red-blooded, red-meat eating, red-car driving Midwesterner. For the record, my sister was the cranky kid.
This isn't high cinema, but if you come from a functional family and want to reawaken some warm memories, or if you come from a dysfunctional family and want to see that even the best of families have their quirks, sit a spell on a Saturday afternoon and pop this movie in.

This film is about how it was when nobody ever heard of Cancun, and all one had to do was kick the tires when your car broke down. It's all about family values, and focusing on simplicity, and unification. This was a time when getting there was half the fun. And despite being rained out, attacked by crazed bees, or flat tires on the way, the adventure and challenge was relished by all, because success was already achieved when they all piled into that car together. Thats the whole cake, and the laughs are the frosting.

This movie proves that you don't need foul language and toilet humor to make people laugh. It's good quality comedy entertainment, with hilarious high points such as the windmill, the bee in the car, and my favorite--which had tears running down my face--the scene where they get stuck behind the chicken truck. I can also relate to Ralph and Randy--getting carsick, fighting, and generally driving "the old man" nuts. I always watch this before I go on a vacation. They just don't make movies like this anymore, and it's a darn shame.

Fuzzhead!
I love this movie and have since I was a kid (not that many years ago).
My whole family loves this movie, and now that I'm a big kid, my fiance and I love it.
Great movie, and one you should definetly watch.

i should be the president of the ollie hopnoodle's haven of bliss fan club! seriously, i love this movie. and the crazy thing is that so few people have been exposed to its fantasticness. none of my friends had ever heard of it. i couldn't remember for the life of me when and on what channel we actually recorded the movie, just that it's been a family favorite. i was so excited last night to get to show it at a sleepover! the girls loved randy the whiner, and i really think i found fuzzhead at the park today! mainly i love this movie because it evokes wonderful reminiscence of my family vacations!

Like A Christmas Story, this movie holds the attention of both kids and adults. Boomer parents re-experience their childhood summer vacations. But the humor is ageless, and present day kids also are riveted. There are classic scenes regarding a kid getting his first summer job (with the father, James Sikking, wryly making cracks about the glories of physical labor). As in the movie, my brothers and I traveled in the family car to vacations on Lake Michigan. Jean Shepard, the author, is unsurpassed in capturing mid-century middle-American family life. Our Beta tape version is getting threadbare; I'd buy a new VHS or DVD in a second, given the opportunity.

Written and narrated by Jean Sheppard--Jean always has a "bit" role in each of his movies ("the boss" in Ollie Hopnoodle and "Santa" in A Christmas Story. There is another of his movies "The Great American 4th of July and Other Disasters" and it is just as hysterical but I can never find it in video stores. Please bring these movies back--my tape is just about worn out!