Too American

I didn't like this film when it 1st appeared on UK TV and I've not watched it since. But I don't think it's because it's too American - I found it unkind and uncomfortable which is a common fault with many alleged comedies. It's a pity because the two stars are are amongst my favourites and some of their films I've watched many times.
Also, agreed, Trading Places is a classic and still works.

How DARE Americans make American movies! They should make Norwegian classics!

Do you hear yourself, and how absurd your argument is? Why would you expect an american movie to NOT be american? What does 'too american' mean anyway? And how can a movie about stock markets and wall street manipulations NOT be 'too american' for ya?

I have never lived in America, and when I saw this first, I had never even visited America, or USA, as I prefer to call it. Yet, me and my friends found this absolutely hilarious and relatable, and I appreciated its atmosphere, intensity and good musics as well as the brilliant acting performances.

So, obviously this movie was not 'too american' for us non-americans back in the day, and it has never felt 'too american' for me ever since, either. It's actually really cool to see movies from other cultures, and to be able to immerse yourself in the story in a different type of setting than you see every day.

What's 'too american' about it? It's not that sappy, when you compare to many other movies, and the scenes with Steve Martin and John Candy are such gold, you could forgive even more sappiness.

This movie couldn't have been more fully appreciated in the non-american country where I have been living, and I assure you, it wouldn't have been possible for me to appreciate this movie than I have.

You are simply wrong in your completely absurd and ludicrous accusation. This movie breaks all cultural bounds, and so what if it shows a little bit of american lifestyle, that's very interesting to see for those that do not live it every day. So if anything, it's PLEASANTLY american, not TOO american.

I'm from Germany and I love this movie. It's a wonderful heartfelt movie about friendship.

Sorry, OP, that you are too closed-minded to be able to appreciate any popular entertainment from a country other than your own. In the U.S. we are generally more open to other cultures' comedy. But since I'm American I found the movie to be very funny, and I'm not going to lose any sleep over the sad fact that you didn't.

I think it's just your personal taste. As a West Coast Californian I can say that the winter travel aspects to this movie are pretty alien to me as where I live the winter seasons don't cram our travel plans (unless you're from the Midwest and live out here). But all of the other aspects to this story are pretty universal as we see two very different characters tussle with each others' predicaments while trying to reach a common goal. It's a classic buddy film where the buddies don't bond until the end.

It also has a great twist and payoff in the end that speaks to the virtue of what Thanksgiving is all about, so it rings special to a lot of people who feel that Holidays like Thanksgiving have been reduced to Black Friday Xmas shopping and College/NFL football game watching.

I think it is because there is damn near nothing else that is not to sappy, or too funny, or too serious. This strikes the holiday not about as best as possible. American movies are exclusively to make money.

Honestly, my favorite part of the movie is when Dell sticks up for himself in the hotel. This was probably his best acting scene in john Candy's career. It turned Dell from a goofy character into a human. You don't always see that in comedies of that time.

I grew up in the 80's and 90's. John Candy and Steve Martin were huge draws to the. Ox office. As a duo, they really nail the roles. Perhaps people is some countries don't like it, but my family in Austria love it. So there's an anecdote to the contrary.

Well it's an American movie, so… Trading Spaces is American?

*Stares blankly at you*