A REVIEW OF "CANADIAN BACON"
A RETRO REVIEW, 1995
by Ryan Ellis
give me a buzz on the ol' e-lines, iluvmick@hotmail.com
The late John Candy starred in quite a wide range of comedies in his movie career. By that, I mean, he made some truly funny comedies and some truly awful comedies. It seemed that he was just hitting his stride with some fine performances in the '90s when his excessive lifestyle did him in for good. With the exception of the terrible "Wagons East", Candy had a string of solid roles in the early part of this decade (in "JFK", "Only The Lonely", and "Cool Runnings" among others) to establish himself as a future Oscar contender. While "Canadian Bacon" was not award-worthy, the corny little movie was entertaining--especially if you're Canadian.
Candy (in his final film) stars as Bud Boomer, a dippy sheriff from Niagara Falls, New York. His main desire is to goof off with his friends. He also tends to believe whatever he sees on television. He has grown up with an attitude about Canada--that we Canucks are overly polite, too clean, and our beer "sucks". That ironic comment (ironic because OUR beer is much better than any U.S. brew!) at a hockey game in Canada starts a massive brawl.
Meanwhile, the American President (Alan Alda) watches his popularity rapidly dropping. His advisers tell him to start a paper war with Canada (Operation: Canadian Bacon). The media feed on this declaration of "war". Bud and his buddies believe the propaganda and decide to invade Canada to aid the cause. Believing that they're part of some sort of military strike force, they break into the country (no difficult task) and start doing horrible things--like littering. One member of Bud's entourage, Honey (Rhea Perlman), gets trapped and subsequently imprisoned by the Mounties. The scenes that develop with Stephen Wright as the Mountie holding her hostage are among the funniest in the entire film. Bud and company try to rescue Honey and, thinking that the capital of Canada is in Toronto, arrive at the C.N. Tower for the final crazy showdown.
With supporting roles filled by Kevin Pollack, Rip Torn, and Dan Aykroyd, "Canadian Bacon" has no shortage of talent. The jokes about Canada are funnier if you happen to be Canadian. Perhaps the average American wouldn't understand that we don't pronounce certain words (like "out") the same as they do. It's also somewhat ironic that John Candy appeared as an American hell-bent on destroying this country when he was, in reality, a patriotic citizen of The Great White North. The movie doesn't quite hit home because it relies too much on the same joke. If talented director Michael Moore was going for a strong satire, he didn't make the humour quite vicious enough (or even funny enough) to work for the full 90 minutes. Still, it wouldn't be a poor choice for the whole family to rent. It's harmless.
Without a doubt, John Candy was a wonderfully funny fellow. He should be remembered for his kind heart and sense of humour. It's too bad that his final comedies ("Wagon's East" and "Canadian Bacon") weren't quite as good as, say, the sweet "Only The Lonely". The charismatic actor left this world before he had the opportunity to receive much recognition for his hard work. Still, Candy would have wanted his fans to remember how he made us laugh. Rent "Canadian Bacon" and I hope you'll get a chuckle or two.
USELESS TRIVIA--John Candy, along with hockey great Wayne Gretzky and former L.A. Kings owner Bruce McNall, purchased the Toronto Argonauts CFL football club before the 1991 season. That powerful trio sure did something right--the team won the Grey Cup in 1991.
This film gets a 6/10.
THE RYAN RATING SYSTEM SAYS... 10/10--absolutely outstanding 9/10--excellent 8/10--pretty darn good 7/10--sure, go on and give it a peek 6/10--so-so; ye ol' recommendation point 5/10--not quite worth the dollars 4/10--only if you have a free pass 3/10--don't go, PLEASE don't go 2/10--avoid even if you DO have a free pass 1/10--"Showgirls" territory; truly crappy 0/10--bang your head off a wall instead
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