Honestly, it’s hard not to enjoy a movie like JOHN CANDY: I LIKE ME. Part love letter, part character study, part career retrospective, this film does a phenomenal job exploring the beloved comedy icon. It utilizes interviews with the people that knew him best, from close childhood friends, to family members, to fellow actor-comedians like Catherine O’Hara, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, and Dan Aykroyd. But my favorite element of the film is the way director Colin Hanks splices in home video footage taken from Candy’s family, as well as interviews and movie footage to really flesh out who Candy was as a husband, dad, actor-comedian, and friend.
This was not really a warts-and-all documentary, mostly because the theme of the film is that no one really had a bad thing to say about John Candy. As much as the interviewees went back into the recesses of their minds, the worst they could come up with is a story about him chewing the scenery a bit too much on stage. Of course, the film does speak to some of his vices—mostly revolving around overeating, smoking, and drinking. But the expectation is that biographical documentaries like this will dig up some hidden stories showing their subject wasn’t as nice and gregarious as their persona made it seem. With I LIKE ME, it appears there was nothing there to dig up (as much as Bill Murray tried to think of an example). If excessive positivity is the biggest complaint someone has about your film, we are in big trouble.
You do not need to be a fan of John Candy to appreciate the film. In fact, this documentary proved I did not know as much about John Candy’s work as I thought I did; so much so, I wrote down some of the films in my notes to watch as soon as possible. However, my one criticism is that it does start to feel a little long in the third act. I think that is because the format starts to get predictable. Each new segment unpacks an element of his filmography, with another celebrity saying nice things about Candy’s work. And again, I will not begrudge the fact that this man was a good person, but in terms of excitement value, there was nothing more there.
It only feels right that JOHN CANDY: I LIKE ME was the opening night film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which is celebrating its 50th year. Set to the backdrop of Canada, Toronto specifically, we get to see the city through John’s experiences—from his time at SCTV to buying the Toronto Argonauts football team. And by the end of the film, we realize they didn’t call him Johnny Toronto for nothing.
JOHN CANDY: I LIKE ME will be premiering on Amazon Prime on October 10!
My Review: B
