I've seen several of the movies John Hughes made in the 80's (the decade I was born), none of which have failed to impress me. I first saw his 1987 film, "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" starring John Candy and Steve Martin, in 2006, and thought it was a great comedy. I watched it for the second time late last year, over three years after my first viewing, and this didn't change anything. "Uncle Buck" is another movie written, directed, and produced by Hughes and starring Candy, both of whom are sadly no longer with us. I had known about this film for quite a while by the time I finally saw it, and I wasn't expecting it to be as good as the 1987 movie, which it isn't, but it was still enough to leave me with a good feeling.
Bob and Cindy Russell recently moved from Indianapolis to Chicago with their three offspring, Miles and Maizy, who are both under ten years old, and Tia, who is now a teenager. Cindy is informed that her father has just had a heart attack, so she and her husband plan to go to Indianapolis to visit the ailing man, but first, they will have to find a sitter for their kids. After several failed attempts, it seems they have no choice but to call over Bob's unmarried brother, Buck Russell to take the job, even though he is a lazy, irresponsible slob, which means this could lead to disaster! Nonetheless, Buck agrees to come over and stay with Miles, Maizy, and Tia while his brother and sister-in-law are in Indianapolis. Inevitably, his presence in this household does lead to some trouble, especially with Tia. She does not appreciate her uncle's presence and is currently going through a phase of teen angst and rebelliousness.
At the beginning of this movie, it's not all that great. When Tia (played by Jean Louisa Kelly) first appears, it doesn't take long for one to realize that she is a very unlikable, snotty character, though there are some fairly funny lines in that very early scene with the Russell siblings. I also didn't think Macaulay Culkin (in the role of Miles Russell) talking about a certain dog being a "ball-sniffer" that funny. However, as I had hoped, John Candy does a great job playing the title role. He plays the same kind of character here as he did in "Planes, Trains & Automobiles", a lovable slob. I think his talent really helps carry this film, and his character's antics are probably the main reason why so much of it is funny, with the slapstick and comical dialogue. Around the time when the character leaves his apartment and goes to the family's house, I was laughing very hard, with scenes such as his phone conversation before he leaves and Buck knocking on the wrong door when he arrives. If it stayed this way for the rest of the film, I would be giving it at least an 8/10, but it doesn't. Tia continues to be snotty, and for much of the film, I laughed a lot but not as hard as before, but Candy's antics still make much of this film entertaining, sometimes hilarious, with the lead character annoying Tia, scaring her boyfriend, the explosion sound his car engine makes, his conversation with the elementary assistant principal, etc. It helps that there are also some good dramatic moments in the movie, especially towards the end.
Basically, what makes this flick inferior to "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" is that it's not as consistent as its predecessor, and the 1987 John Hughes/John Candy collaboration certainly doesn't have any characters that are as off-putting as the Tia character is here. In between those two films, Hughes wrote but didn't direct a comedy entitled "The Great Outdoors", which also features Candy in the cast, but I haven't seen that one, so I don't know how it compares, but "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck" are both funny comedies which can also be serious in some scenes, with good sentiment, and Candy really stands out in both of them. The two movies can also easily leave viewers with a good feeling at the end. I can understand why "Uncle Buck" doesn't have the appeal of its hilarious predecessor, but there is a lot to make it watchable, and it can remind us of the talent Hughes and Candy had.
