Details from IMDB:
John Candy: I Like Me
Explores the life and legacy of the iconic funnyman John Candy, who died of a heart attack in 1994, at the age of 43.
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Initial Thoughts:
John Candy did a lot of movies (over 40) which I think is impressive for someone who only lived to be 43 and was wonderfully funny and of course Canadian! Suffice it to say I’ve always been a fan (and yes I’ve seen some of his bad movies) so I knew I would be watching this documentary when I saw it on Amazon Prime. I knew this would be sad/hit me in the feels, so I made sure to watch it when I was home alone (see what I did there?).
Main Points:
I know I really love a movie when I talk about it the next day, today I talked about this with two people at work and my friend John over the phone. I loved this movie so much, so this is very much a bias review. I learned so much about John Candy, how great a person he was (signing autographs for 3+ hours, appearing in movies for next to nothing, being on set for 23 hours straight, giving money to small towns in Mexico, turning down roles to be with his family just to name a few) and how much he is missed. As they said in the film he was such an amazing actor because he put so much of himself in every role, he invested his emotions in a character and always tried so hard to make everyone laugh and be happy. He was a people pleaser and in Hollywood where the industry has an unending appetite, that can be a deadly combination.
The film does have a couple of flaws, it goes by the same old formula of starting with his end, then working back from his birth, I know this is popular and tried and true but I’m tired of it, it would have been better just to go from start to finish. I also thought that despite it’s nearly 2 hour run time I would have liked more, I wanted to see more interviews, more about what effect he has had on the world since his passing (his legacy) and how his family/widow is doing today. Why wasn’t Wayne Gretzy interviewed? They knew each other from owning a football team together, that seemed like an odd exclusion. I also really loved the trivia aspect to this film, I had no idea that John Candy loved football and co-owned a team or that his father passed away on his birthday when he was just 5 years old.
Final Thoughts:
The film also does a great job of showing the pressure he was under to both lose and then gain weight. It talked about how John was in therapy for his severe anxiety and that because of him his son had the courage to get therapy as well. Hearing Steve Martin talk about the scene from “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” where he says “I like me, my wife likes me” was both amazing and heartbreaking, sure it was acting but you could tell Martin found it really hard to say such horrible things to this wonderful man. In case you had any doubt this movie is touching, sad and will hit you hard in the feels, I was emotional at the end, probably the most emotion I’ve had for a movie it years, it was worth it though for such a tremendous film. I give this my very rare rating of 9 out of 10 and would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed a John Candy movie, comedy or just wants to learn more about him as a person. There are some adult themes there and some coarse language, so ages 13+. Get a box of tissues and watch this movie, you’ll be glad you did.