Joe's boss blesses him with a two-week vacation. All he wants to do is sit in a hammock in the backyard and read, but his wife will have none of it. She sends him out to a local hardware store that has advertised a "free vacation planning brochure." This provides the highlight of the short, a fast-paced scene -- reminiscent of Groucho and Chico Marx's "Tutti-frutti ice cream" sketch in A Day at the Races -- where Joe gets the free brochure, only to get hooked for $1,000 of camping equipment he never asked to buy. (The store also throws in a free Indian guide who, despite his being an outdated stereotype, provides the movie's other major laugh -- when Joe insults him at one point, he cries like Stan Laurel.)
There's a cute scene with a dyspeptic park ranger, but after that, the vacation's pretty much over. Still, it was fun while it lasted.
Our rating: (C) 2012, Steve Bailey.
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