54
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasDunston Checks In is a delightful and funny family film of exceptional high style.
- 80VarietyLeonard KladyVarietyLeonard KladyDirector Ken Kwapis displays a deft touch, balancing realistic elements and outsize characterizations. Pic’s unflagging pace and the unexpectedly witty script by John Hopkins and Bruce Graham complement the simplicity of this comedy construct.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDunston Checks In is a fast- moving, well-done farce that both kids and adults will enjoy.
- 75Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyA cheerful romp through a fussy New York hotel.
- 63Baltimore SunStephen HunterBaltimore SunStephen HunterDunston Checks In checks in somewhere between cute and zany. It's never really funny, but director Ken Kwapis has a low flair for slapstick that occasionally ignites a spark or two.
- 50The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenThe movie should have been a steadily escalating rampage that results in outrageous property damage. Instead, it wastes too much of its time developing the cardboard characters of the hotel manager, Robert (Jason Alexander), and his two mischievous sons, Kyle (Eric Lloyd) and Brian (Graham Sack).
- 40Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenA crowd-pleaser for the under-10 set judging from the preview audience’s reaction, Dunston Checks In offers a few funny scenes, one-liners, and characters, but not enough to inspire the entire film.
- 40New Orleans Times-PicayuneDavid BaronNew Orleans Times-PicayuneDavid BaronDunston does all sorts of zany things in Ken Kwapis' wisely brief feature, but whether the movie is therefore worth seeing will depend on whether his monkeyshines are apt to make the viewer go ape. [12 Jan 1996, p.L24]
- 33Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerEntertainment WeeklyKen TuckerDirector Ken Kwapis fills the movie with feeble references to Planet of the Apes and King Kong that don’t amuse adults and sail over the heads of tykes who snicker most at the raspberries Dunston blows at anyone he meets.
- 25Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonIn the new wave of kiddie animal movies -- "Babe," "Black Beauty," "Gordy," "Fluke," "Roan Inish" and all the rest -- Dunston Checks In is valuable only as a new standard of screenwriting ineptitude. Don't play it again, Sam, at least not with this bunch.