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| The doc made its world premiere at TIFF last month |
John Candy was a comedian who resonated with the Gen X crowd, who got laughs at The Second City and SCTV, then Saturday Night Live, and then on the big screen with Splash, Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Home Alone and many other comedies.
But he died suddenly in 1994 at the age of 43 and disappeared from people's consciousness.
Colin Hanks, Tom Hanks' son along with Candy's children, Christopher and Jennifer, have made a love letter to him with the documentary John Candy: I Like Me.
It had its world premiere at TIFF in September and next up was VIFF and when tickets were available I made sure I got one and was not disappointed.
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| Candy had wanted to play professional football |
The film begins at Candy's funeral in Los Angeles in 1994 and goes back in time as Christopher wants to piece together his father's life.
Candy was born on Halloween, 1950, the younger of two brothers. But his father died of a heart attack on Candy's birthday when he turned five.
The family tried to be stoic and celebrated his birthday, but that left Candy confused and didn't know how to process his father's death. He suddenly grew up and felt he had to help look after his mother, a single parent.
In school he had dreams of becoming a football player, but a knee injury prevented him from going any further. He also wanted to enlist in the US Army to fight in the Vietnam War, but was rejected because of his injury.
So he turned to acting and found he flourished in comedy. From there he found his tribe.
A long list of actors and comedians are in the documentary, starting with Bill Murray, who says in his deadpan voice it was impossible to say anything bad about John Candy, and the others include Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Tom Hanks, Macaulay Culkin, Dan Ackroyd, and even Mel Brooks.
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| The film shows home video clips of Candy |
He worked best with director John Hughes, who may be best known for making Molly Ringwald a star, but Candy collaborated the most with Hughes. Their families were so close they even took vacations together.
Perhaps making his life come full circle was in 1991 when he, former hockey star Wayne Gretzky, and later disgraced sports executive Bruce McNall bought the Toronto Argonauts. Candy was involved in the Canadian Football League and used all his energy to promote the team, signing endless autographs and taking pictures with fans to promote his team.
Meanwhile he was desperately trying to look after his health, but directors wanted him to look big, as they created characters with him in mind. His fame also stressed him, leading him to eat, drink and smoke more, all while he was worried about his health (ironically).
He died of a heart attack in his hotel room when he was filming Wagons East in Durango, Mexico.
Christopher and Jennifer have wonderful memories of their dad, and there are many clips of home videos of Candy playing with them; his wife Rose speaks fondly of Candy too and gives context to his early life, along with some childhood friends.
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| Culkin with Candy in Uncle Buck |
But also Culkin said Candy was an adult co-star who really cared about him. The now 44-year-old Culkin recalled how he had an overbearing father who was also his manager, and Candy sensed what was going on and would ask Culkin how he was doing, if he was OK.
There's footage of the two of them in rehearsal reading from a script, and viewers can see how Candy was patient with Culkin, treating him like a peer, not a kid. Rose adds he didn't look down on his children, but respected their thoughts and opinions.
John Candy: I Like Me is a comprehensive profile of him, and many in the audience laughed but also shed some tears, missing such a talented actor. It was wonderful to see him on the screen again and to learn more about his back story.
Murray is right -- it's really hard to say anything bad about Candy.
John Candy: I Like Me
Directed by Colin Hanks
113 minutes
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