John Candy may no longer be with us, but he's still Canada's national treasure. Amongst his raunchy '80s peers, the Second City comedy alumnus had a gift. His warmth never failed to give us a smile when he appeared on-screen. His best films built on that endlessly loving part of Candy, turning him into an honorary family member, a silly babysitter for our darker days.
Despite his comedy prowess, his dramatic roles made us look at him in a new light. When he died in 1994 at 43, we lost decades of potential work where we could have deepened his craft. As a Canadian whose vibrant attitude borrows from the best in Candy, Ryan Reynolds understands what Candy means to all of us. Reynolds' production company is working on a documentary on Candy's life and legacy. For now, we have Candy's movies to remember him by when we miss his infectious laugh. These 15 films showcase him at his best. Regardless of what critics might have said at the time, only our love for John Candy matters.
15. Delirious
"Delirious" is as over-wrought and pointlessly intricate as the soap opera melodramas at the film's heart. That's part of the joke, but it's a joke that doesn't quite work all the time. But Candy's performance makes a weak movie into something watchable. His generally reasonable responses to becoming a reality-warping writer with a magic typewriter carry the film.
Yes, this is a gimmick made familiar by the classic "Twilight Zone" episode "A World of His Own." Some might think of the Will Ferrell-staring movie "Stranger Than Fiction." They're all worlds of metafiction where a humble writer changes the world with a word. But only Candy's version uses his deus ex machina to fix his past mistakes. He also actively chooses not to meddle in the minds of people around him. By the end, it's not quite a shaggy dog story, but it's close. Yet there's still the classic Candy message throughout its runtime: kindness matters more than cruelty.
14. Home Alone
Candy has what we'd call a glorified cameo in the first entry of the Wet Bandits vs. Kevin McCallister (Macauley Culkin) saga. But he still has moments that matter. As Kevin's parents realize they screwed up hard, it's Kate (Catharine O'Hara) who does her best to haul herself back home. Of course, it's an uphill push against Christmas traffic, so she has to resort to the kindness of strangers. Fortunately, the stranger who guides her on her mission is Gus Polinski (Candy), the Polka King of the Midwest.
Gus is the spiritual cousin of Del Griffith. As in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles," we're taking some unorthodox trails back to the family home in Chicago. While Kate is beside herself at what she accidentally did to Kevin, it's cheery, garrulous Gus that keeps her sane. Like Del, Gus is no saint. He's a warm, caring guy with a few screwy family issues. The anecdotes he shares — leaving his kid at a funeral parlor or being on the road too long — are all too relatable for viewers. Candy's warm heart helps uplift the whole thing.
13. Heavy Metal
The animated 1981 anthology "Heavy Metal" used pretty much everyone from the Second City sketch comedy team to voice its early '80s weirdness. (Producer Ivan Reitman would continue to work with Candy and Harold Ramis in the following years.) Yes, the quality of the voice acting here is dodgy. Honestly, casting Candy in the "Den" segment as our lead, a horny teenager who wakes up in a Conan-style fantasy is a choice. Nonetheless, he gives it his all, infusing the kid and his shredded comic book body with eager innocence.
"Den" isn't the only segment to feature Candy. He's also a desk sergeant in "Harry Canyon" -- where his voice makes a lot more sense -- and a lusty robot in "So Beautiful & So Dangerous," which is less successful. Yet "Heavy Metal" overall is still a great trip of a movie. Its rotoscope art and bangin' soundtrack keep the project together. Although Candy might not be the focus here, it's still a key part of his film history. This wonderful oddity ranks higher than prior films on this list due to how well it showcases Candy's range.
12. The Rescuers Down Under
Gen X kids grew up with a lot of wonderful anthropomorphic critters. (I'm not saying that's why we have so many furries in our generation, but there might be a connection worth exploring!) Strangely, we had a good decade of comedy relief birds to love. Kehaar (Peter Capaldi) kicked us off in the late '70s in the traumatizing "Watershed Down," and "Secret of NIMH" gave us the lovable Jeremy (Dom DeLuise). But in 1990, Candy also gave us Wilbur, the dorky albatross that acts as the comedy sidekick to the Rescuers, in "The Rescuers Down Under."
Wilbur, in addition to looking like Candy, is just as eager and warm-hearted as his human counterpart. He jumpstarts his engine the moment he finds out this trip to Australia is a rescue operation for a kid. To compensate for being an affable dork, Wilbur gets to be a hero in his own right. He's one of the first on the scene to protect the eggs of the giant golden eagle Marahute (Frank Welker) -- even though his reward is to become a chew toy for the fledglings in the last moments of the movie.
11. Who's Harry Crumb
The critics were not kind to "Who's Harry Crumb" on its floundering release in February 1989. With due respect, they're so wrong. The subtitle for this movie is now "The Idiot's Guide to Knives Out." Why not? The premise is tailor-made for a young Benoit Blanc if he were loopy on edibles and not 100% sure of his skills.
In the film, Harry (Candy) is a private investigator whose boss assigns him to a high-profile kidnapping case -- finding the daughter of millionaire P.J. Downing (Barry Corbin). He's not supposed to succeed because (of course) his boss is in on the crime. But the kind and bumbling Harry makes an ally of P.J.'s youngest daughter, Nikki (Shawnee Smith), who has more than enough brains for both of them. The pair charmingly fumble through the best Rich Bastard tropes of the time: infidelity and wild escapes to Buenos Aires. In the end, Harry succeeds, even if by accident. Still, there's a spark of real insight in Crumb's mind. Honestly, he should've had a cozy mystery novel series launched in his honor. We'd have 50+ books by now, and we could read them all in Candy's iconic voice.
10. Splash
A fumbling young romantic crosses the path of a humanoid sea creature like nothing the world has ever seen. The creature is valuable to government researchers, and the young romantic's charming story takes some bittersweet twists as they and their friends work to rescue the creature and decide where their future together will take them. Nope, not "The Shape of Water!" I'm talking about the classic romantic comedy "Splash." Tom Hanks portrays our romantic young lead, Allen, whereas Candy plays his ride-or-die brother, Freddie. The creature? Well, that's Darryl Hannah at her youthful finest, embodying the mermaid that falls in love with a human man.
Without a doubt, this film is Hanks' showcase and a highlight of his early comedy era. But Candy is still here to be the emotional counterweight. He's a little bit of a lech, which now brings John discomfort. But his loyalty to his brother is vital. Freddie helps his brother heal a temporary breach between him and his mermaid love and ensures their happy ending at the cost of his.
9. JFK
Oliver Stone's rambling narration of the events surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy in JFK is near-total fiction. However, that doesn't stop the movie from being an intriguing dispatch from a weirder reality. Yes, Candy's role in it is small. But it's a pivotal one and unusually ironic. He plays Dean Andrews Jr., a New Orleans lawyer who entangles himself in Jim Garrison's (Kevin Costner) attempt to pin the assassination on someone other than Oswald.
In real life, Andrews was a Candy-type character. His appearance is dead on, as Andrews was a fast talker inclined towards larger-than-life anecdotes. (Y'know, another Del Griffith.) But Stone tries to reshape Andrews into a shadowy figure, a man willing to manipulate the Garrison Investigation for secretive ends. Candy does a fascinating job, giving us a glimpse of an alternate universe where he would live long enough to follow Robin Williams' turn into more frequent dramatic roles. It's not enough to make us believe in what Stone is peddling here, but that's not John Candy's problem.
8. Stripes
A great way to make a really weird night for yourself is to watch "Full Metal Jacket" and "Stripes" back-to-back. They have a vaguely similar pace: The first half of basic training and the second half of war-is-hell hijinks. In this thin comparison, Candy's role as Dewey Oxberger runs analogous to Vincent D'Onofrio's Private Pyle. With, thankfully, a far better outcome for Dewey.
John Candy, as ever, gives Dewey a genuine personality. Dewey wants to get into shape so he can be one of the cool kids. The rest of his squad doesn't treat him like garbage for this, and there are no late-night abusive hazing rituals. The worst treatment he gets is mud wrestling with women for money. (Hey, who wouldn't?) Dewey stays broad and lovable throughout the film's runtime. As a war hero with a big, affable heart and a dead-on sense of humor (yes, we do fall in love with that, guys), Candy ends the film as the teen girl dreamboat we deserve.
7. Summer Rental
Certain movies herald annual events like eating Chinese takeout during the 24-hour "Christmas Story" marathon or watching "Halloween" while you suck down mini-candies meant for trick-or-treaters. For some of us, the turn of the season from spring to June's sweaty heat means we're putting "Summer Rental" on TV for the 30th-ish time. "Summer Rental" is the perfect example of the airy '80s comedy with jokes that haven't aged well and a pair of surgically-upgraded breasts that did.
In "Summer Rental," Candy is our fumbling, bumbling dad, who wants a nice summer holiday away from being an air traffic controller. His career explains why he's uptight and easily stressed out. But his behavior also leads to blowouts over trivial things like lobsters. The plot here is less interesting than watching Candy bounce off Rip Torn's Scully, a "pirate" and restaurateur who's slinging cheap fish sticks. It may not be critically beloved — few Candy movies are — but it's a relaxed, cheerful way to ring in the summer season.
6. Cool Runnings
Let's not pretend the classic feel-good movie "Cool Runnings" is a docu-drama. The movie is heavily Disneyfied to amp up a genuine underdog story about a four-man Jamaican bobsled team who has pretty much no chance to win at the 1988 Winter Olympics. But victory isn't the point. What matters more here is the effort and the desire to be recognized as something more than a joke. For once, it's a story about humans being good. Candy portrays the team manager Irv Blitzer. As he's done in prior films on this list, he knows exactly which heartstrings to tug on and when.
Irv's not real. However, Howard Siler, a former Olympic bobsledder who helped coach the fledgling bobsledders, inspired his role. This film gives him a subplot, which sees Candy starts as less than likable -- a former cheat who's a jerk to the people around him. But the team's dedication to the sport teaches him how to put other people's needs first. Not only does Candy get to act more than his usual fun fare, but his big heart still gets to save the day in the last act.
5. The Great Outdoors
It's easy to mentally bundle "The Great Outdoors" with "Summer Rental." But this time, Candy's Chet is just trying to relax. But he goes into a spooky old forest with bears and his grating brother, Roman (Dan Aykroyd). Despite casting the former Ghostbuster, there are few scares in these woods. Instead, we get human selfishness, abandoned mine shafts, and a pissed-off bald bear -- played by Bart the Bear, one of the industry's most famous animal actors.
Of course, this is also the land of the Old 96er, a steak-snarfing challenge that would've given "Man v. Food" pause. Naturally, Roman goads Chet into an attempt. (You've probably at least seen the panicking GIF of Chet and the scary butcher.) But as a second viewing makes clear, it's one of our first clues that there's another story under the silly family hijinks. Candy's loving nature elevates this film. Not even Roman can take advantage of Chet's kindness for long. "The Great Outdoors" spotlights one of Candy's nicest and funniest roles. But playing him off of Aykroyd adds an edge of morality to the proceedings we hadn't seen as developed in prior films.
4. Uncle Buck
"Uncle Buck" and the next entry are tied in this ranking. As Buck Russell, Candy is at his best and funniest. It's not a surprise to find out that his top-rated films are John Hughes productions. No clearer is that fact than here, with Candy thrust into the center of a family with flaws, where his unique brand of warmth and humor helps everyone feel like they can be a better version of themselves.
Buck isn't much of a role model. But he's something much better: a good, flawed dude who ultimately tries to do his very best for everyone he cares about -- even if he's picked the wrong thing to do. Forget Yoda. Sometimes trying really is as good or better as succeeding. "Uncle Buck" is also Macaulay Culkin's first big hit as youngest son Miles. His persistent attitude with Buck is a highlight. Buck's best scene, though, is when he turns up at school to defend Maizy Russell's (Gaby Hoffmann) imagination from an off-brand Miss Trunchbull.
3. Spaceballs
Mel Brooks' sci-fi parody "Spaceballs" might be a bit overloved. Throughout its runtime, it's clear that Mel isn't a big sci-fi fan. Beyond its "Star Wars" inspiration, The jokey costumes and gags take from only the most well-known sources. But Mel certainly understands movies, not to mention the industry itself, and the most on-point laugh is still Yogurt's push for merchandising. He also has a great cast to deflate the George Lucas machine and fittingly cast Candy as our serial number-free Chewbacca.
Fuzzy space dog Barf (Candy) is his own best friend and soon becomes ours too. His silly antics and loyalty to Lone Star keep the movie from turning into something too cynical. He's the background character we all want more of, and in a way, "Spaceballs" makes a clever bookend to Candy's work on "Heavy Metal." This film is about not taking things too seriously and loving things enough that light teasing is ok. Brooks' lesson is one some "Star Wars" fans still need to learn. That aspect keeps this movie and Barf's happy sidekick vibes still relevant and vital.
2. Only The Lonely
We all knew John Candy for his comedic work and joy, but his sincerity was just as important. His father figure-like roles act as replacements for the troubled people in our lives. We loved his imperfect character who taught us valuable lessons. Perhaps too much sincerity is cheesy, as critics didn't care for his painfully sincere Danny in 1991's "Only the Lonely."
The heavy emotional beats here are more serious than the usual tones of his films -- making this into an old-time melodrama, the sort of film that used to star Bette Davis and Claude Rains. Given that approach, it's no surprise that Candy's equally melodramatic mother is played by screen legend Maureen O'Hara. (She was a queen of Hollywood long before she became John Wayne's go-to movie love.) "Only the Lonely" is purposefully out of time, a throwback to black-and-white romances that offered a slight sting on their way to a happy ending. Candy plays this movie as straight as Cary Grant and it works! With a heart as honest as Candy's, it's a movie that needs revisiting today.
1. Planes, Trains, And Automobiles
There isn't much of a bloodthirsty argument over which John Candy movie is the best. Sooner or later, it's Thanksgiving time and we're riveted once again watching him and Steve Martin verbally choke each other out. In "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles," Candy is Del Griffith, a kind and annoyingly daffy fellow who helps the uptight Neal Page (Martin) get home for the holidays.
The world has moved on since the analog days of phone booths and manually flagging down taxis. Still, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" is as fresh as your aunt's mouth after her second bottle of cheap wine. Underneath the snapped insults is a love for our starring characters and humanity. Neal's adventure with Del is a relevant and timeless story. Del is our reminder to be kind to each other, that it's hard work, and that we're all carrying our unique pains. Martin is magnificent here, but it's Candy's spotlight. His lasting message is that we can and should be better. But -- as importantly -- it's okay to laugh when things get tough. Sometimes, it's downright necessary. Thankfully, we have Candy's immortalized work to remind us of that.
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