I decided to rank all of John Candy's films on what would have been the fabled funnyman's 75th birthday. Candy had roles in eight Canadian films produced in the 1970s that we're just not going to discuss, because they're too obscure, insignificant, and hard to find today.
35.
34.
33.
33. depressing
32. filmed before, released after, and isn't any better.
Candy was part of the credits cameo parade of this John Hughes-Kevin Bacon romcom, that arrived right on the heels of "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"(it's coming). A respectable movie, just not a John Candy movie.
John made two movies with Tom Hanks, but you don't need to bother with this one. Noteworthy only for the real-like romance that developed between Tom and Rita Wilson who lived happily ever after.
John appeared in five films released in 1991. This late summer flop is the most forgettable one
John gets the only laugh in this
Nobody can say that John Candy didn't work hard, or that he didn't try. But there's at least a dozen movies that didn't deserve the effort. "Crumb" wants to be "Fletch"
I recently made the mistake of thinking that one of Eugene Levy's few "above the title" roles was worthy of a Tubi rewatch. Picture "Police Academy" with security guards. John makes the most of the thin premise as his ex-cop partner, just don't expect it to be good.
Steven Spielberg's worst film. Candy gets lost in the shuffle of a large ensemble cast that includes John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, Robert Stack, Nancy Allen, Treat Williams, Tim Mathison, Lorraine Gary, Christopher Lee, Warren Oates, and Toshiro Mifune.
along with Steve Martin and Bill Murray
The Daniel Stern-directed "Rookie" isn't a great movie by any stretch, but the little ones won't mind if you dig it up on Disney+.
Candy wound up competing with himself- "Down Under" lost the holiday family film battle with "Home Alone"(more on that later).
Two comedy greats, and $30 million that has to be spent in 30 days(with nothing to show for it). Candy seemed content playing many sidekick roles, while Richard Pryor was trying to re-establish himself as a film lead after "the accident" that killed his "Stir Crazy" momentum. Walter Hill's version of the 1902 George Barr McCutcheon novel(first adapted in 1945) was among the top twenty moneymakers of 1985, a nice hit for all involved.
Landis
There's laughs to be had in this Carl Reiner comedy.
For most of it's runtime(the first 80 minutes), this is one of the funniest films of the early-'80s.
10. Aykroyd
9. serious
8. may be his most underrated film.
7. If you grew up in the late '80s-early-'90s, Mel Brooks' "Star Wars" spoof was a part of your life, it's as simple as that. You may even like it more than "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein". George Lucas himself approved of the misadventures of heroic flyboy Lone Starr(Bill Pullman) and Barf(Candy) and their space battle with Rick Moranis' uproarious Dark Helmet. Fingers crossed for the forthcoming 2027 sequel.
6.
5.
4. Legend has it that Candy spent one whole day(literally, 23 hours) on the set of "Home Alone" for his largely improvised role of traveling musician Gus Polinski and accepted mimimum payment($414) as a favor to John Hughes. He was understandably annoyed when a seemingly-small kids movie became a phenomenon and the highest-grossing film of 1990, with a domestic gross of $285 million. Regardless, it's still cool that he's in another timeless holiday classic(John has Thanksgiving AND Christmas covered).
3. Yes, John Candy is only in Oliver Stone's paranoid masterpiece for about five minutes, but he owns every second of those five minutes as sweaty New Orleans lawyer Dean Andrews(there's a real resemblance), and it's absolutely one of the best things he was ever a part of. Candy was eager to break free of his comedic persona and was said to be thrilled to get this part, and extremely nervous about his monologue opposite Kevin Costner.
2. Hughes
1.
