Why The Film ‘Dunston Checks In ‘ Is An Overlooked Masterpiece

A lot of amazing films were honored at the 1996 Oscars. Mel Gibson ‘s Braveheart. Woody Allen ‘s Mighty Aphrodite . John Lasseter ‘s Toy Story and Kevin Spacey ‘s turn as Roger “Verbal ‘ Kint in Bryan Singer ‘s. The Usual Suspects.

But one film was left out.

Director Ken Kwapis ‘ monkey-in-a-hotel magnum opus Dunston Checks In. Dunston Checks In is an overlooked masterpiece that deserves more attention. A lot more attention.

I ‘m a huge fan of this film. But when I talk to people about Dunston, usually at social gatherings like this fun cookout my buddy Mike from Rec Soccer had last year, I get the same reaction. People smile and nod, but then steer the conversation into something non-Dunston related, usually other nostalgic topics like N64 or Babe: Pig in the City – another great film that I really love because of great writing and animal acting and cinematography, just not as much… So I have to speculate: Why is Dunston Checks In overlooked?

Dunston isn ‘t just a brilliant slapstick comedy, and it is…

The characters are actually really clever…

And there a couple of really cool shots…

But most importantly, the story has a lot of heart… Especially because the Dad and Boy miss their Dead Mom:

With so many great elements, it ‘s clearly a way smarter film than it gets credit for and definitely way more clever than what the final poster suggested. I made a couple posters that I think are better, I took graphic design classes all through high school, so I ‘m pretty good with Photoshop and Corel Painter.

But the defining artistic achievement that Kwapis and writers John Hopkins and Bruce Graham crafted was creating a nuanced three dimensional character in their titular star Dunston.

Edited and Produced by Greg Stees

Written and Performed by Greg Stees

Executive Producer

David Saint

Executive Producer

Chris Michael