Most documentary’s main goals are advocacy filmmaking. Pick an issue, and tell the public about it. Colin Hanks is doing advocacy filmmaking like all documentarians do, just of a different sort. John Candy: I Like Me is advocating for everyone to go out and see the great comedian’s films…and be reassured that the lovable guy you’re seeing onscreen is the same lovable guy off of it.
For the kids out there who wondered who that yellow jacketed guy was in Home Alone, John Candy was more than just the “fat funny guy” stereotype he seemed. Inside he was a gentle soul like the rest of us, eager to please and unsure in his choices. Don’t believe me? Here’s the murderers row of comedy royalty to tell you: Bill Murray, Eugene Levy, Conan O’Brien, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Hanks, Steve Martin…and that’s only maybe a quarter of the royal court ready to bless their lost brother and friend.
Even the most watchable documentaries tend to be deadly serious affairs that leave you emotionally wrecked after you watch them. John Candy: I Like Me is the opposite of that. This is more comedy and documentary, so it’s going for more of a hang out vibe. You’re at the Candy Estate, watching some home movies and talking about the decades of good times. Every 10 minutes or so some really famous comedian comes on and 1) talks about how funny John Candy was in the thing they were in and 2) talks about how sweet of a guy he was too. If the man has warts, they were more inward, and never got in the way of his interactions with others. We bullet point through some of the greatest TV and films anyone could ever want, with one little anecdote for each one. If I Like Me was a funeral, it’s one of those big Irish ones, more celebratory and filled with kegs of beer.
So what did we learn here? Some could interpret the fact that this is all praise no boos as a failure of resolve. But…just this one time…maybe there….isn’t something profound to learn. John’s family is here to give us enough glimpses of his private life to confirm what we all saw in the public eye. This is more like the public service to a new generation: a way to gently sum up John Candy’s overwhelmingly positive contributions to culture and society, and to get out and watch some of his best: Planes, Trains, SCTV, Cool Runnings, Uncle Buck, and maybe the funniest minute of one of the best kids movies of all time, that I did get confirmed was improvised.
John Candy, I Like Me too. As a portly fellow myself, you were one of my faves growing up, a part of many of the formative films of my childhood. Thanks for helping shape my sense of humor, in a multitude of ways, by being so funny…and so very, very lovable and kind.