angelofvic

I daresay this movie will make you cry. Not because Candy felt sorry for himself, or was hurt by fat jokes or people telling him he should lose weight, or because he died young.

What made me tear up was the number of superb actors and directors stating how John Candy really *saw* them, really made them feel seen and understood, and made them know that they mattered -- not just on-screen or behind the camera, but as people, as vulnerable human beings who are subject to human frailties and the cruelty or coldness of others.

I learned a lot about John Candy that I didn't know. He wasn't just a funny fat guy or a sweet-seeming actor. He was a real mensch, who gave to others almost more than was good for him.

Great movie. I recommend it.

This little short film (11.5 minutes) has a quirky but touching vibe.

It is viewable on YouTube, Twitter (X), Instagram, and possibly elsewhere.

Since watching it, I have been thinking a lot about the three actors, especially Dot-Marie Jones, who, in an unforgettable performance, nearly steals the show.

Here's what the writer/director/actor, Luke Barnett, says on X/Twitter about the genesis of it:

"My mom died when I was 17. I only have a handful of pictures and zero videos of her. A couple years ago, on my birthday, I got a text from a number I didn't recognize. It simply said 'happy birthday' with a YouTube link. I clicked it and my heart stopped. It was my mom.

"I had to pull over immediately. She was telling me how proud she was of me and how she wondered what I'd become. Maybe a policeman, a preacher, or even a clown. I couldn't believe it.

"Well, it turns out the random phone number was my friend Jon's dad, who had found this video on an old VHS tape they made before a 1999 school event. I was 16.

"This experience got me thinking... what if we could have one last conversation with someone we lost?"

This documentary, which details Flannery's deep religious faith, as well as her painful loneliness and eventual debilitating illness, offers a better understanding of the twisted weirdness, violence, and grotesque in her works.

In many of these works, the violence and grotesque spark an inwardly mysterious revelatory connection to revelation and salvation and the divine, if viewed correctly through O'Connor's perspective.

If you have read some of O'Connor's work and found it compelling but often too off-putting and weird, this film should make you think again and reconsider the deeper meaning of her compelling but very unusual and seemingly dark or "twisted" themes.

It's also great to learn about the flesh and blood person behind the iconic stories.

Highly recommended.