Uncle Buck

Starring: John Candy, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gabby Hoffman, Macaulay Culkin, Amy Madigan, Elaine Bromka, Garret M. Brown, Laurie Metcalf, Jay Underwood, Suzanne Shepherd
Directed by: John Hughes
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
1989

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two parents need to attend to a sick elderly relative, and have no choice but to turn to irresponsible Uncle Buck (John Candy) to watch their three kids while they're out of town.

Review:

Tim: Uncle Buck is a movie that shows us just how good of an actor John Candy was. His untimely death is tragic for many reasons. Among them is that we may never see his likes again in the movies. He was a big, physical presence, but he was capable of such subtlety and warmth. All that is on display here, in a wildly entertaining movie from John Hughes.

It's interesting, the premise of the movie simplifies what the movie is actually about. So many of the early laughs come because irresponsible, wacky, risk-taking Uncle Buck is forced to be domesticated and watch his nephew and nieces. That's a wonderful premise and you can imagine all the comedic possibilities. However, Hughes' film never settles for the surface level here. This is actually a story about how Buck Russell rises to the occasion despite being woefully unprepared and ill-equipped and provides some terrific parenting for these kids that their own parents were never able to deliver. That's amazing to think about and John Hughes deserves all the credit in the world for writing this story. That's what I most loved about this movie- how it could seem light and comedic, but actually have wonderful depth to it. Hughes (another Hollywood icon who died too soon) was a master of that, and it's on display here.

I started this review talking about John Candy, and for good reason. He's incredible in this movie. I believe it's the finest performance he's ever given. He makes it look easy when it's actually unbelievably difficult. He has to convince us early on that he's ill-suited for any kind of babysitting duty. He has to show us myriad flaws and personal issues. And then, in a short amount of time, he has to show enormous character development and growth- and needs to make it feel believable. He achieves this. The three best scenes in the movie are all due to Candy's acting.

I truly believe the "mole" school conference is one of the all-time funniest scenes. I just watched this movie for the first time and I was crying. I must have watched it over a dozen times. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. This is partially due to the words, but mostly due to Candy's performance. I marveled at how he was able to pull this off. The look on his face is priceless. He's projecting calm and friendly confidence while his brain is firing in a completely different direction. His ability to stammer through his statement saying utter ridiculousness while keeping the look on his face that conveys something else is truly remarkable acting. The whole scene is made by him and it's priceless. The other two great sequences- the back-and-forth exchange with Macaulay Culkin, and the one-sided phone conversation are both classic scenes and it all comes down to Candy's acting ability. His talent was on display here and I'm not sure he's ever been better.

The supporting cast is quite strong, too. Jean Louisa Kelly gives a strong performance, holding her own against Candy. It was fun seeing them interact together. They had a lot of one-liners and awful looks and it was great fun to watch. Gaby Hoffman was excellent in her role, and Macaulay Culkin proves he's one of the greatest child actors of all time. I'm a big fan of Amy Madigan and I loved seeing her in this role. The whole cast is just so good.

I struggled a great deal with whether I considered Uncle Buck a great movie. I don't want to say anything bad about it because I loved it so much. However, it came down to this for me- those three scenes, "Mole school conference", "Candy-Culkin back-and-forth" and "one-sided phone conversation" were hilarious, amazing, incredible sequences. Those are the things you need in a great movie. The rest of the film didn't quite reach those heights, and those three felt isolated from the main movie. Like the story paused for a moment to do something really funny. I wish there were more scenes like that and that those three felt more integrated into the movie, rather than hilarious detours. It came down to that for me, how little it would have taken for me to think this was a great movie. I'd like to watch this film again some day, I can always change my mind. Regardless of a number score, this is a movie I truly enjoyed and would be happy to watch again.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club