If you grew up watching SCTV, or John Hughes films such as “Uncle Buck” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” and especially if you grew up in Canada, John Candy is part of your family. Thirty-one years after his death in 1994 at 43, he’s still your Uncle Buck, the guy who makes you laugh the most, cry the most, and feel the most.
He is celebrated in style in the new documentary “John Candy: I Like Me.” The recent Toronto International Film Festival favourite premieres tonight, October 10, on Prime VIdeo.
In hiring Colin Hanks to direct the project, producer Ryan Reynolds said that he “didn’t want to live in a world where there is not a documentary about John Candy.” Hanks, whose dad Tom shot “Splash” with Candy in 1984, agreed. Candy’s children, Chris Candy and Jennifer Sullivan-Candy, were thrilled that this project was finally going forward and quickly signed on — as did the late actor’s wife, Rose — as co-executive producers.
Everyone agreed to two things: they wanted this film to celebrate Candy, but also to not sanctify him; to show that the greater Toronto native native had flaws and weaknesses like everybody else. Candy was a man of big appetites, and a heart condition while carrying too much weight contributed to his death in 1994 while filming the comedy-western “Wagons East.” He was 43.
The film meets both objectives admirably and damn if I didn’t need to dab my eyes a few times before it ended. All the great film clips and SCTV moments are there, but what is also explored, as the family insisted, was the “why” behind Candy’s struggles with food and alcohol. One clue comes early in the documentary: the sudden death of his father who dropped dead of a heart attack on Candy’s fifth birthday. This, of course, devestated the entire family in many ways, but it also may explain the comedian’s exceptional powers of empathy and compassion as well as his nagging levels of anxiety.
These were matters Candy explored with a therapist long before actors talked about mental health issues and practices. The other thing that stands out in the documentary is that reporters and even Hollywood talk show hosts in the ’80s and ’90s thought nothing of asking fat-shaming questions. The hurt in Candy’s eyes explains why the otherwise jovial actor often seemed nervous when being interviewed.
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Make no mistake, however. This is no TMZ-style expose. “The bad pitch,” Hanks told reporters in Toronto at the film’s festival press conference, “would be when you think of an overweight actor who died too young, you think of guys that unfortunatley pass away of a drug overdose. And John didn’t — he passed away because he had a bad heart.
“If there’s no nefarious reason that he passed away,” Hanks continued, “what else is there?” He reasoned that Candy’s “everyman qualities were so detailed and so genuine that he suffered from things that everyone suffers from — and that is actually worth examining and looking at.”
Which this documentary does very well. It helps that some of the greatest comedy minds of the past 50 years share their insights. Reynolds told reporters that booking Bill Murray — always a challenge — was a last minute win that only came after the film was otherwise wrapped. Hanks wisely places the Murray moment right up front, and it provides clarity and a little magic.
So, too, is the wise words from another “hard get” — Dan Aykroyd. Hounded for months, the SNL original eventually invited Reynolds and a crew of four to his well-currated cottage somewhere in Ontario for an overnight, delivered insight beyond the producer’s wildest expectations, and then promptly kicked them all out the next day. (“The greatest night of my life,” Reynolds told reporters.)
Others weighing in with praise include Conan O’Brien, who was a Harvard student and Lampoon editor when he somehow convinced Candy to visit the campus. In the doc, he singles out the SCTV sketch “Yellowbelly” as the one that blew the doors off any pre-conceived notion he had as to the limits of network comedy.
Another comedy legend still blown away by Candy’s talent is his “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” co-star Steve Martin. Look also for a touching memory from Candy’s young “Uncle Buck” scene stealer Macaulay Culkin, now 45. It is extra sweet also to see 99-year-old Mel Brooks be so genuinely moved by Candy, who he directed in the filmmaker’s biggest box office hit, “Spaceballs.” Brooks also talks about when his friend Carl Reiner directed Candy in the somewhat overlooked gem, “Summer Rental.”
The SCTV castmate testimonials are all exceptional. Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short — that they lost a brother still shows, but thirty years later, you can feel the joy on their faces as well as the sorrow.
Candy’s children Jennifer and Chris are just thrilled that there is finally a new John Candy movie. You will feel the same way. Do not miss “John Candy: I Like Me” premiering Oct. 10 on Prime Video.
For more from Chris and Jennifer on the documentary, watch the video podcast I posted this week on YouTube, or listen to it on Spotify.
