A Totally Heinous Plan in ‘Deedles,’ Dude
Stew Deedle is the smart one. He wears glasses, can hack into Defense Department computers and knows without looking at a map that Yellowstone Park is in Wyoming.
His twin, Phil Deedle, is 4 inches taller, would need a map to find his way home, and even when he street-luges into Yellowstone wearing hijacked women’s underwear, he thinks he’s in Jellystone Park and Yogi Bear is waiting to teach him how to steal pick-i-nick baskets.
He also gets the girl.
Phil has the right cartoonland state of mind for “Meet the Deedles,” a harmless dumbing-down of “Wayne’s World” meets “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” with all the intellectual content of “Scooby-Doo.” If you can diagram the phrase “It’s so diculous, it’s re-diculous,” welcome to the multiplex. Take any seat.
Before your popcorn can get cold, Stew and Phil (Steve Van Wormer and Paul Walker), budding but syntax-challenged surf-heirs, get expelled from school, are dispatched to this totally bogus Camp Broken Spirit, lose many of their worldly possessions, trash a campsite and nearly kill themselves at least three times--finally crashing into Yellowstone where they are mistaken for rookie park rangers.
Got it? Good. Now forget it. The real story is about how two well-meaning dudes save the day (and Old Faithful--played in an understated way by a hole in the ground, a helicopter engine, some tubing and a very large amount of water) by foiling the twisted plan of former head ranger Frank Slater (a miscast Dennis Hopper, abetted by special guest henchmen Robert “Freddy” Englund and Richard Lineback) to divert the geyser using an enslaved legion of prairie dogs and create his own theme park.
Things move quickly in an oddly sympathetic way until the outdoorsy sensibility is sacrificed for a cheap coda that should prevent the franchising of the Deedles.
* MPAA rating: PG for language, violence and crude humor. Times guidelines: Younger kids are likely to be grossed out by the--ugh--kissing, and they might be scared by the extreme stunts.
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‘Meet the Deedles’
Steve Van Wormer: Stew Deedle
Paul Walker: Phil Deedle
A.J. Langer: Jesse Ryan
John Ashton: Capt. Douglas Pine
Dennis Hopper: Frank Slater
Eric Braeden: Elton Deedle
Richard Lineback: Crabbe
Robert Englund: Nemo
Walt Disney Pictures presents a DIC Entertainment production in association with Peak Productions. Directed by Steve Boyum. Written by Jim Herzfeld. Produced by Dale Pollock, Aaron Meyerson. Executive producers Andy Heyward, Artie Ripp. Director of photography David Hennings. Production designer Stephen Storer. Editor Alan Cody. Costume design Alexandra Welker, Karyn Wagner. Music Steve Bartek. Music supervisor Karen Glauber. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.
* In general release throughout Southern California.