Movie Review: Cool Runnings (1993)

Genre: Sports Comedy

Director: John Turteltaub

Starring: John Candy, Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug

Running Time: 98 minutes

Synopsis: In 1987, Jamaican sprinter Derice Bannock (Leon Robinson) falls in a qualifying race and misses out on the Olympic team. He switches his dream to the winter games and connects with Kingston-based American bobsled coach Irv Blitzer (John Candy). They recruit pushcart derby champion Sanka (Doug E. Doug), rick kid Junior (Rawle D. Lewis), and tough sprinter "Yul Brynner" (Malik Yoba) into the team. Irv and the aspiring bobsledders will need to surmount numerous challenges to represent a proud but winter-free nation at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

What Works Well: Inspired by actual events, this is a feel-good sports underdog story. Director John Turteltaub aims for family-friendly laughs and adds doses of humanity derived from three backstories: Coach Irv is on a redemption journey to compensate for a tainted past; Derice has a family legacy to live up to; and Junior needs to emerge from underneath his rich father's shadow. The men are tied together with a bow of national pride and a simple message of staying true to cultural roots.

What Does Not Work As Well: The unnecessary search for simplistic villains reaches for stone faced European opponents and grim Olympic officials placing every hurdle possible in the path of the happy-go-lucky Jamaicans. The stereotyping combines with a Hollywoodized ending to strive for the nausea medal.

Conclusion: An inspirational downhill run encounters some bumps.



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Movie Review: Only The Lonely (1991)

A romantic comedy about breaking the umbilical cord, Only The Lonely benefits from a strong cast and sharply drawn characters.

In Chicago, Danny Muldoon (John Candy) is a 38 year old police officer of Irish descent, content with a stalled career driving the prisoner transfer wagon. A batchelor without romantic prospects, he lives with his overbearing, racist and caustic mother Rose (Maureen O'Hara), and dedicates his life to pleasing her. His brother Patrick (Kevin Dunn) is happy to take advantage of Danny's easy-going nature. Meanwhile neighbour Nick (Anthony Quinn) is trying, most unsuccessfully, to start a romance with Rose.

Danny meets mortician Theresa Luna (Ally Sheedy), and they start dating. She is an introvert, and he helps her break out of her shell. But Rose is terrified of losing control over Danny, and starts undermining the budding romance. Partick starts pushing for Danny and Rose to relocate to Florida to avoid any responsibilities for looking after his mother. As much as Theresa starts to love Danny, she needs him to learn to stand up for himself.

A John Hughes production playing on the theme of nice guys finish last (or never even enter the race), Only The Lonely teases out the clash between family loyalty and personal growth. Writer and director Chris Columbus creates a conflict triangle, Danny forced to confront the incompatibility between unquestionable dedication to a selfish mother and starting down the road towards defining his own happiness.

The film maintains an agreeable sense of humour throughout, and the romance between two tentative and self-doubting individuals evolves in modest increments. However, the 12 year age difference between Candy and Sheedy is an unnecessary irritant, and Columbus cannot avoid the tendency to overproduce (both Halloween and Christmas have to make dressed-up appearances). A couple of jokes ("sometimes it's good to be a cop") are overused to eye-rolling levels, and the climax ends with the oh-so-tired race to an unplanned rendevouz.

But credit is due for featuring a portly actor as the romantic lead, and for venturing into the relatively rarely explored terrain of difficult mother-son relationships. Older people can get away with a lot by playing the age and experience card, and here Columbus asks how far is too far and when should verbal abuse, emotional blackmail and racism be called out, regardless of the aggressor's age and family ties. Because this is a romantic comedy Rose's character is afforded a soft landing, but the questions raised are worthwhile.

Maureen O'Hara is a sparkly presence in her return to the big screen for the first time since 1971's Big Jake, and Anthony Quinn is the grizzled veteran seeking a final romance in the sunset of life. Jim Belushi and Macaulay Culkin appear in small supporting roles. 

Only The Lonely glides towards the usual tidy endings with no loose thread left behind, but does so with admirable depth and polish for the genre.



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Movie Review: Home Alone (1990)

A family Christmas comedy, Home Alone strikes all the right tones in a tale of a kid forgotten behind at the most magical time of year.

In a Chicago suburb, the McCallister family prepares for a Christmas vacation trip to Paris. Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is the smart but exasperating eight year old youngest son, generally overlooked by his parents Kate and Peter (Catherine O'Hara and John Heard) and tormented by his siblings. With the family chaotically extended by the presence of Kevin's ornery uncle and his brood, no one notices burglar Harry Lyme (Joe Pesci) disguised as a police officer scoping the soon-to-be-empty house.

In the travel day rush the family bundles off to the airport and then onto the plane with Kevin forgotten home alone. He has to fend for himself, keeping a wary eye on spooky neighbour Marly (Roberts Blossom), and gradually realizes Harry and his partner Marv (Daniel Stern) are intent on burglarizing the house. On the plane Kate awakens to her blunder, and once in Paris immediately starts the long trip back. But unscheduled travel arrangements during the Holidays will prove a challenge.

Writer and producer John Hughes turns his attention away from teenagers and towards the younger kids. Maintaining his sharp wit and ear to the ground, Hughes conjures up a Christmas classic in a story where be-careful-what-you-wish-for applies to both the kids and adults.

In the lead up to the Paris trip Kevin makes a nuisance of himself by just being a kid, but his unintended mess results in hot emotions and sharp words. Kate banishes him to the attic, out of sight and out of mind, and Kevin wishes his whole family would just disappear already. Both their wishes come true, as the next morning the family is free of Kevin's presence and he awakens to an empty house, sure he was responsible for everyone's disappearance.

With director Chris Columbus capably translating Hughes' vision to the screen, what follows is a journey of redemption for Kate, and she has to overcome every conceivable travel nightmare to make it back to her son as soon as possible. Her trip will include a travel leg in a U-Haul van with John Candy's legendary (sort of) polka band, Hughes elegantly tying Home Alone with 1987's Planes, Trains And Automobiles.

Meantime Kevin is growing up in a hurry, confronting fears including the boiler in the basement and the mysterious neighbour-with-the-shovel. But worse is to come, the bumbling burglar duo of Harry and Marv absolutely intent on hitting the prized McCallister house (Hughes never quite explains how this family came to live in a luxurious mansion). Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are admirably dedicated to the doofus antagonists roles, and add immeasurably to the film's madcap physical humour.

Home Alone reaches a quite hilarious climax with Kevin concocting a defence of the house to thwart and humiliate the robbers at every turn, in the hope help will arrive in a true Christmas miracle. Here Hughes even manages a nod to the intervention by the misunderstood next-door presence from To Kill A Mockingbird territory.

With Columbus cajoling a superlative and ridiculously appealing performance out of young Macaulay Culkin, Home Alone ticks along in perfect harmony with the spirit of personal growth through family appreciation, laughing all the way.

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Movie Review: Brewster's Millions (1985)

A flimsy comedy, Brewster's Millions introduces a nonsensical premise and proceeds to botch the execution.

In New Jersey, Monty Brewster (Richard Pryor) is the none-too-bright relief pitcher for the Hackensack Bulls. He is shocked to inherit $300 million from a recently deceased great uncle. But he can only claim the inheritance if he spends an initial $30 million in one month without accumulating assets and without telling anyone why he is spending all the money, among other restrictions. Monty accepts the challenge, and his extravagant spending bewilders his friend Spike Nolan (John Candy), the Bulls catcher.

The law firm administering the inheritance appoints paralegal Andrea (Lonette McKee) to keep track of the spending, as well as her fiancé Warren (Stephen Collins) to secretly ensure Monty fails. Monty arranges a friendly baseball game with the New York Yankees, and enters the race for Mayor of New York City, although he encourages everyone to vote for None of the Above.

Based on a novel written in 1902, Brewster's Millions fails miserably in overcoming the plot's inherent wackiness. Why Monty needs to spend $30 million to inherit $300 million is poorly explained, as are all the clumsy rules placed around his spending. And since there appears to be nothing preventing Monty from immediately hiring people to do next to nothing and paying them ridiculous salaries, with minimal fuss he could hire 100 people at $10,000 a day and cruise his way to his inheritance.

Instead, the lame script has Monty running around in a state of constant uncoordinated panic, never once pausing to think. It's all in search of madcap comedy, but director Walter Hill, given too much money and placed in charge of the wrong genre, fails to deliver a single laugh. Hill fills the screen with people milling around Brewster as his celebrity status grows, except that no one actually does anything that makes sense.

With the film devoid of ideas, the 100 minutes feel like the entire month of Monty's imbecility, and the barely coherent side quests into the mayoralty race and the baseball game grow like unwanted weeds and choke the main storyline. The would-be romance between Monty and Andrea never comes close to sparking.

The film is clearly intended to replicate Eddie Murphy's success from Trading Places, here with Richard Pryor as the simple black man suddenly coming into a world of wealth. But Monty is not street smart, he is simply not smart, and Pryor does not come close to saving the material, tackling the wit-free script with a singular expression. John Candy is sharper as the befuddled friend, while Pat Hingle, Jerry Orbach and Hume Cronyn are given little to do in support.

Even with millions to play with, Brewster's Millions cannot spend its way to decent entertainment.

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Movie Review: Splash (1984)

A fantasy romantic comedy, Splash succeeds in creating an unlikely love story between a mermaid and a man.

As an eight year old, Allen Bauer fell off the Cape Cod ferry and had a weird underwater encounter with a young mermaid. 20 years later Allen (Tom Hanks) is running a fruit distribution business in Manhattan with his obnoxious brother Freddie (John Candy), and not much of a believer in love. After another mishap at sea again near Cape Cod, Allen is rescued by the same, now grown mermaid (Daryl Hannah). She finds his wallet and decides to track him down, her tail turning to legs once on shore.

Allen is startled by the beautiful and initially naked woman who latches onto him, and he is blissfully unaware she is a mermaid. She learns English in one afternoon by watching television, they fall deeply in love, and he gives her the name Madison. Meanwhile, volatile scientist Dr. Walter Kornbluth (Eugene Levy) has spent his entire career trying to prove the existence of mermaids. He is hot on Madison's tail, so to speak, eager to reveal her true nature.

Directed by Ron Howard and produced by Brian Grazer, Splash sounds ridiculous, and indeed the script was roundly rejected before Disney picked it up for their new more adult-oriented Touchstone marque. And thanks to Howards' deft touch, Hanks' everyman persona and Hannah's curious innocence, the film simply clicks. Comedy and romance come together in an irresistible and most literal fish-out-of-water tale, boosted by smooth special effects and crystal quality underwater scenes.

With buoyant irreverence the film plays with the theme of love emerging from the unlikeliest of places, romance blossoming from within the ocean despite Allen being terrified of water. Other percolating ideas include New York as a city that welcomes all aliens, the unintended usefulness of useless television, and government types as military-happy incompetent meddlers (and here Splash borrows from E.T.).

Not everything about Splash quite works, and the weaker moments find Howard catering to more base instincts. The ending introduces an unnecessary chase featuring military trucks full of soldiers running around, and some of Freddie's antics belong in a more lowbrow comedy. Levy's performance is also free of any nuance. And in making Madison exceptionally libidinous Splash does surrender to the male fantasy of the beautiful, available and innocent woman draping herself all over an unsuspecting man.

But thankfully, most of the film is centred on Allen and Madison as a compatible match, and both are entranced by a sense of discovery. He is falling genuinely in love for the first time, and she is discovering life on land, and their relationship is strengthened by the shared sense of wonder about what is possible. Splash may be a fishy love story, but its tail is in the right place.

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Movie Review: National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

A road trip comedy, National Lampoon's Vacation concocts a hit-and-miss subversive mix of dark humour with seemingly innocent family fun.

The eternally optimistic Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) insists on taking his family on a long road trip from Chicago to the Walley World theme park in Los Angeles. His wife Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and kids Rusty and Audrey (Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron) are less enthusiastic but pack into the newly acquired garish green Wagon Queen Family Truckster station wagon to embark on the trip.

Along the way they stop in Kansas to visit Ellen's country bumpkin cousin Catherine (Miriam Flynn), her husband Eddie (Randy Quaid) and their numerous children. Ellen and Eddie foist Phoenix-bound Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and her gnarly dog onto the Griswolds. The adventurous episodes continue, including an unscheduled sojourn into the desert and frequent encounters with a beautiful woman (Christie Brinkley) driving a red Ferrari.

Trendsetting for its time, National Lampoon's Vacation was written by John Hughes (based on his short story for National Lampoon magazine), and directed by Harold Ramis. The film features coarse language spouted in front of children, mild nudity, animal cruelty, sudden death, a theme of middle-aged lust, and unhinged behaviour that tips into armed threats. But it's all presented in the context of an uproariously fun family road trip with a cheerful father egging his brood to have a good time.

The film's dual personality is what gives it a sharp edge, because otherwise this is an episodic and fairly sparse comedy singularly lacking in narrative arcs or character depth. Beyond Clark's insistence that the family ought to have fun no matter how little fun they are having, the film trundles on from one set piece to another, fully dependent on abject stupidity to land the Griswolds in their next mess.

Clark's other journey is that of a middle aged man lusting after a mythical sexy girl driving a super sportscar. The reality is that no Christie Brinkley would ever cast a second glance at a doofus like Clark Griswold as he lugs his family around in a ridiculous station wagon, and this is part of Hughes' perverted take on comedy.

Chevy Chase's screen persona of the straight man with a much higher opinion of himself than merited is perfectly deployed to create Griswold, and he arrows through the film on a downward trajectory towards total humiliation. Other funny men appear in small roles, including Eugene Levy as a car salesman and John Candy as a security guard at Walley World.

National Lampoon's Vacation travels the bumpy road of comedy, delivering some laughs, some bewilderment and plenty of silliness.

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The Movies Of John Candy

All movies starring John Candy and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are linked below:

The Silent Partner (1978)

1941 (1979)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Stripes (1981)

National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)

Splash (1984)

Brewster's Millions (1985)

Planes, Trains And Automobiles (1987)

Home Alone (1990)

Only The Lonely (1991)

JFK (1991)

Cool Runnings (1993)

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The Movie Star Index is here.

Movie Review: Planes, Trains And Automobiles (1987)

A comedy about the trip home from hell, Planes, Trains And Automobiles finds writer and director John Hughes graduating from teenagers to adults, and maintaining his clever ability to mix humour with humanity.

It's two days before Thanksgiving, and marketing executive Neal Page (Steve Martin), in New York for a meeting, just wants to hop on a plane and get home to Chicago where his wife Susan (Laila Robins) is waiting patiently. Neal is a relatively quiet and introverted man, and his trip starts off badly when his attempts to hail a cab are unintentionally thwarted by shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). Neal finally makes it to the airport only to find his flight delayed, then he finds himself squished into the middle seat next to Del, who is a boorish, talkative bore.

With bad weather over Chicago, the plane is diverted to Wichita and the two men find themselves sharing the same motel room. Neal discovers Del to be a disgusting slob, but also an honest, resourceful and somewhat lonely man. With most flights grounded, Del arranges for the two men to travel by train, and momentarily Neal starts to believe that things are looking up. But then the train breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Neal and Del are thrust back together again, still a long way from Chicago.

After having made his name directing a series of teenage-oriented comedies renowned for treating young adults as real people, Hughes fully graduates to grown-ups, and loses none of his magic. Planes, Trains And Automobiles exaggerates to good effect, but is otherwise a comedy propelled by a story familiar to all travelers: the seemingly innocuous flight that turns into an ordeal. At an efficient 92 minutes, the film keeps the laughs coming at a steady pace, and uses side characters, including a car rental desk clerk and a local Wichita pick-up driver, to inject big laughs at regular intervals.

At the heart of the story Neal and Del interact like rotating magnets, alternating between being pulled together through circumstance and then pushing away due to abject incompatibility. Just when it seems the two men cannot survive a minute more in each other's company, Hughes expertly pulls out the pathos card and reveals the humans behind the comic masks, drawing the two men back together out of compassion or sympathy.

Hughes deploys Del's character extremes to maximum comic effect, turning the stereotypical salesman into the worst possible nightmare travel companion. Del has stinky feet, turns the bathroom into a mess, explodes beer cans all over the bed and makes animalistic noises before falling asleep. He also has the uncanny ability to make any situation worse, and to actively tempt residual bad luck just when good luck appears to get a foothold. If the film has a weakness it resides in Hughes carrying Del to an extreme; he too frequently steps over into caricature territory.

It would take the worst possible confluence of ill-timed and unfortunate events for the domesticated Neal to tolerate Del, and in the context of what should be a short flight from Chicago to New York, unfortunate events are all that Neal will get. Cab competitions, delayed flights, seat booking mess-ups, foul weather, a taxi literally from hell, bad motels, horror car rental companies and failing trains. If it can wrong, it will on this trip.

Steve Martin and John Candy reach career highlights under Hughes' guidance. Martin perfects his ordinary but combustible man facing intolerable chaos, and Candy steps out from the sidekick shadows to share centre stage, allowing Del Griffith to be chief comedy maker but never losing sight of the solitude at the heart of living on the road.

The film moves towards revealing the true nature of Thanksgiving, as one way or another Neal and Del are forced to look past their incompatible exteriors to finally confront the person within. Planes, Trains, And Automobiles features plenty of transportation modes failing to deliver, but is ultimately about the people inside the machines reaching true destinations.

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Movie Review: The Blues Brothers (1980)

A bombastic musical comedy, The Blues Brothers is a raucous exercise in unconstrained charisma. The story of two hip brothers seeking to raise money for an orphanage is just a good excuse for automotive mayhem and buoyant musical performances.

Released from jail after serving three years for robbery, Jake Blues (John Belushi) is picked up by his brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) driving a repurposed ex-police car. Together they visit an orphanage run by nuns, and discover that the institute will shut down unless a $5,000 tax bill owed to the City of Chicago is settled within days. Jake and Elwood decide that they are "on a mission from God" and set out to do the only thing they know how: reunite their old blues band and perform a show to raise the required money.

They track down their old bandmates, who are all initially skeptical but ultimately game. Along the way, Jake and Elwood manage to enrage the police and the local neo-Nazi chapter, while a mystery woman (Carrie Fisher) does all she can to blow the brothers to smithereens. Hotly chased by their pursuers, the reunited Blues Brothers bungle their way into a show at a rough country and western eatery before finally landing a gig at a lavish hotel to give themselves a chance at raising the funds in time.

The Blues Brothers is a celebration of excess. Perfectly mixing music and comedy, director John Landis packs in over-the-top auto chases filled with wild stunts and crashes involving a ridiculously large number of cars, along with several long, energetic music numbers. He also milks every drop of star John Belushi's stratospheric star power, and unapologetically delivers an over-budget 133 minute musical comedy about very little. It is all disproportionately larger than life, and it all works.

Inspired by Saturday Night Live sketches and capitalizing on Belushi's post-Animal House popularity, The Blues Brothers is more an attitude and a cultural landmark than a narrative-driven film. Co-written by Landis and Aykroyd, the film achieves a cool vibe, with the two lead protagonists quickly achieving cult likability by sticking to their principles and their dark suits, hats, and shades, achieving hyper self-awareness and simultaneously remaining oblivious to the carnage unfolding all around them.

The highlights are many. The performance at Bob's Country Bunker is the perfect irreverent set-up, a place where the blues band has to quickly pretend to love country music, and where chicken wire protects the band from beer bottles hurled at them to signify derision and appreciation. Carrie Fisher's mystery woman bursts into the movie at regular intervals with ever more destructive weaponry, harbouring all of hell's fury. James Brown, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin among others show up for extended and dynamic musical cameos, sparking career revivals. And Landis somehow makes it perfectly logical that by the end of the film, an army of law enforcement vehicles, a militant group of neo-Nazis, and the Good Ol' Boys country band and their RV are all in hot pursuit of the Blues Brothers.

Aykroyd and Belushi are as smooth as any film buddy couple can be, whether acing their cool test, escaping from hundreds of police cars or performing their unique music-and-dance routines. In addition to Fisher and John Candy, the supporting cast is peppered with blues performers thought to be well past their prime, until the film propelled them back into the limelight.

The Blues Brothers is a spectacular success, but with a dark cloud hovering on the horizon. Within two years of the film's release date, Belushi was dead from a drug overdose, and Landis was charged with manslaughter for the tragic deaths of Vic Morrow and two child actors on the set of The Twilight Zone, caused by pyrotechnics bringing down a helicopter. Every type of excess, as it turns out, has its limits.

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Movie Review: Stripes (1981)

A showcase for the comedic talent of Bill Murray, Stripes is only as good as its star. Murray's laid-back sardonic style creates good friction with the motif of military discipline, but Stripes suffers from having little to offer other than Murray's attitude.

John Winger (Bill Murray) abandons his job as a taxi driver, is abandoned by his girlfriend, and has his car repossessed, all on the same day. He convinces his friend Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis) that they should join the army, and off they go to training camp. The fellow recruits include the overweight Ox (John Candy) and an assortment of the psychotic and the dim. Drill Sergeant Hulka (Warren Oates) tries to make soldiers out of them, with limited success. Hulka's platoon muddles its way to graduation before becoming embroiled in an unexpected incursion behind the Iron Curtain.

Much of Stripes was improvised on the spot, director Ivan Reitman keeping the cameras rolling while Murray made things up and the other cast members reacted. It's a sometimes fascinating viewing experience, but the struggle to create a cohesive movie out of essentially uncoordinated comedy moments is also clear. Stripes sags and surges, meanders and regains focus, ultimately providing an interesting but bumpy ride.

When it works, Stripes delivers scenes of comic gold. Murray's speech to rally his platoon prior to the graduation ceremony is classic, as is the platoon's performance in the ceremony itself. But in the final 30 minutes featuring the unplanned invasion of Czechoslovakia, Stripes loses its way in a groan-inducing attempt to superimpose superfluous action onto a comedy, with mostly embarrassing results.

The thin ice of material that Stripes skates on is exemplified by a deleted sequence (restored in the Extended Cut) that has Winger and Ziskey hitch a ride on a military plane to an unnamed war zone, where they are captured by undefined heavily armed mercenaries and threatened with death, but save themselves when Winger starts singing Quando Quando Quando. It's a nonsensical interlude, scraping by on Murray's improvisational talent and spontaneity. A mud wrestling match between John Candy's Ox and a bevy of near-naked models is also a punch line stranded by an absence of meaningful context.

Elsewhere in the cast, Ramis proves to himself that he is no actor, his uncomfortable performance as Ziskey crossing the line from comic to incompetent. Warren Oates performs his function as the crusty drill sergeant with good intentions, while P.J. Soles and Sean Young as the Military Police officers who develop relationships with Winger and Ziskey realize early on that they need to be comely rather than convincing.

Stripes is a one-man comedy routine expanded into a military farce. It is remarkable that it works as well as it does, and this is testimony to Murray's unique talent to deliver cool humour with perfect timing.

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