I was watching one of my fav movies "Uncle Buck" on tv the other night and realised that it's been 16 years since he passed away...
As a John Candy fan i have most of his movies and watch them all the time...
My favs are...
Uncle Buck The Great Outdoors Plains, Trains & Automobiles Summer Rental
I still think it's very sad that his life was cut so short...a true 80's legend.
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
No denying that. Although if you look at it from a certain angle, given the miserable, demeaning roles his colleagues have been largely forced into doing over the last decade (Steve & Chevy in particular have been abused by the establishment), perhaps his fate was a blessing in disguise in a way that prevented him from suffering the same fate.
What really made him great was that he understood what his role was about; he knew the purpose of great comedy was to genuinely make people's lives better (now compare him to the current generation; for want-to-bes like Will Ferrell, it's largely about the money and little else), and that if he could, his life could count for something. Deep down I think he knew he didn't have long, that the same heart attack that took his father was going to get him in the end, and so he determined to make as much of his life as he could, and look what came of it: essentially few people have anything bad to say about him. Still, there's always the tantalyzing hint of what else could have been; as anyone who saw him in JFK (they almost cut him out of the picture, but thankfully they'd already shown the trailer with him in it, and Oliver Stone demanded they back off anyway) could vouch, he would have done equally well in dramatic roles if given a chance, and wanted that chance (the sad paradox of comedians; life is an eternal attempt to be taken seriously). Still, what we do have is more than good enough, and should be remembered for years to come.
Posted by pork pie mcfly (Member # 6802) on :
I agree Chris, it is a same what as happened to alot of big 80's actors and it would have been a shame to see John in lesser roles than his talents deserved.
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
John Candy will always be my "Uncle Buck". I'm going to Chicago soon and finding that house!
I always thought he was great in "Stripes" too.
"Well sir, we were going to this bingo parlor at the YMCA, well one thing led to another, and the instructions got all fouled up..."
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Great, great actor! I own 17 John Candy movies at the moment and one of my missions is to find them all. At least the ones made in the 80s and the 90s.
This week i´m finally going to get that 2-disc "1941" dvd.
Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
I always loved John Candy movies. I think I liked thems so much because he usually played an everyday, average Joe kind of guy. I watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles a few weeks ago and had forgotten how funny it was. I think I didn't appreciate it much when I was younger and first saw it. Uncle Buck was never a big favorite of mine. I loved him as Chet in the Great Outdoors. The bear on the hood, "How about a nice Zagnut?" was classic. Posted by gordongecko (Member # 4685) on :
I think his greatest talent was to make the others around him funnier. He usually ended up being the punching bag, in a good way. At his finest he would never over act in an attempt to get a cheap laugh. He was solid!
Posted by Earl Keese (Member # 7986) on :
I said it on another thread and I will say it here...I love John Candy! I agree with Chris on one point, but not on another...I think John was fantastic in JFK and was truly a pivitol character that was going to bring him more serious roles if he wanted them (ala Bill Murray & Steve Martin). I understand the sentiment behind the blessing in disguise comment, but I just know that unlike some of the others you mentioned, when it came to John Belushi and John Candy, we have been absolutely robbed and that is the hard part to admit.
John was always there in some of the best comedies ever (The Blues Brothers, National Lampoons Vacation, Stripes, etc.) as almost an Ian Holm type stamp of approval for comedies.
The thing that made him brilliant for me though is the fact that he could make me laugh and break my heart all at the same time.
I am a sucker (read: will cry at the drop of a hat) for "momemts" in movies..."And when I run I feel his pleasure" - from Chariots of Fire..."Have a nice ride" - from Seabiscuit..."Sam Shephard walking out of the desert" - from The Right Stuff and while most of these have an emotional "ping" by setting it to the backdrop of "inspirational" and swelling orchestra, the brilliance of John Candy was to be able to illicit the exact same response with no extra help and just stand there in the scene and be completely vulnerable. Scenes like..."...well I like me. My wife likes me." and where he is watching Neal and Susan Page embrace at the end of Plane, Trains and Automobiles...yes, okay the music swells there as well to Every Time You Go Away, but the look on his face as he is remembering Marie is just so honest and perfect that I blubber like a baby...every...single...time.
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
Hence, for example, while Kevin James was a more than respectable Paul Blart last year, had he been around for the role, it would have been an absolute masterpiece of a film, for the character just screamed him, and he probably would have jumped at the chance to do pure action for once, especially action with a lot of heart. That's the signature role that I most think he could have handled in the intervening years(Belushi, for counter example, would have been a spot-on Jack Sparrow if given a chance); anyone else think of anything that would have been up the big guy's alley?
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
What we need is a John Candy foundation to honor his legacy and they should release all his work on dvd for us fans to see and enjoy.
Posted by pork pie mcfly (Member # 6802) on :
Couldn't agree more aTomiK.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
All you have to do is see Candy in that one scene in "Cool Runnings" where he tells the Olympic Committee to hold his transgressions against him but not his bobsledding team, and you will see what a talented, versatile dramatic actor he was, not just the comedian we all love. Does anyone remember him in a small supporting part in "The Silent Partner" (1978), truly one of the greatest forgotten thrillers ever. (And an early screenplay for Curtis "L.A. Confidential" Hanson)
Posted by Pyromantic (Member # 7658) on :
he was a great comedic talent..a great loss to the comedy world indeed...I do only wish we could have seen him in more dramatic roles before he passed.
A couple favs: Planes, Trains, Autos Stripes Spaceballs
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
All three great Candy performances, Pyro. I would add Candian Bacon as a classic John Candy role.
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
Absolutely that's an underrated role (best part: he and his colleagues storm the Canadian dam screaming at the top of their lungs, only to find that in Canada, they staff their dams after dark with unharmful senior citizens (and then blacks out all of Canada after he nonchalantly throws the master control switch, assuming they were trying to fake him out about its function)), and he manages to push the film above Moore's usual conspiracy theorist tripes into a pretty reasonable satire.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
Chris CFM, that is a hilarious scene, one of quite a few. I also like the scene with Steven Wright at the Mountie ("Welcome to Canada") who is writing greeting cards to ex-prisoners and tells Candy and company the crimes his current charges committed: "And he put leaded gas in an unleaded tank... Animal!" I have a few Canadian friends who find it to be extremely funny--and fairly accurate. :-)
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
"We're your worst nightmare." "My worst nightmare involved a pack of rabid wolves; I was stuck somewhere up in the Yukon, and there were lots of tall rabbits..." So absurd it's priceless.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
"Toronto, it's beautiful! Like Albany, only cleaner."
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
"How do you suppose they clean all those windows?" "Windex, dummy."
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
"You are in violation of our dual language language law..."
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
"Attention please, attention please, this is the Royal Canadian Mounted (Aerial) Police. Will you come down from the Tower please?" "If you say please one more time, I'm going to let you have it!!"
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