Wagons East

This is a great movie. Not quite as zany as Blazing Saddles, but well worth a watch. John Candy, in my opinion, is a great comic actor. The running gags and one liners are really funny. I am proud to say that I have it in my video library. Long live John Candy, a true comedian.

It's not a brilliant film, certainly not John Candy's best work, but I would like to commend the editors. John Candy died during production of this movie, and just under half the scenes were recorded using another actor in John Candy's place. Candy's face was then added using computers. And it's an almost perfect job.

Wagons East was a fun movie. I love the premise of settlers going "back east", principally, because I'm Native American. It was almost like watching a Mel Brooks' movie, not one stereotype was left untouched. John McGinley, who played Julian, is one of my favorite actors. He has an amazing range. However, it's too bad that this was John Candy's last film. You can that he didn't enjoy the shoot and that he wasn't feeling well. I recommend it.

My wife and I actually quite enjoyed this movie. It was by no means John Candy's best but it was certainly better than we expected. Perhaps that's why I disagree with what most critics say.

Perhaps I love it for sentimental reasons knowing that Candy died just before the movie was completed. Nonetheless we had a good laugh and I do recommend this as a good pop corn movie.

The main premise of the movie is that there are a group of individuals in a small western town that have had it with "The Code" of the west. They hire a drunken guide (Candy) to take them back east and thus starts the comedy of errors as they go against the grain.

Admittedly the acting is only fair at best, but then again most of these characters are comedians do a pretty good job of playing off each other.

It seems perfectly obvious that any number of folks who took Horace Greeley's advice about going west had second thoughts. A lot just weren't cut out for the frontier and I don't doubt many returned east.

It is to those wise souls who knew when to quit that Wagons East is dedicated to. In one of our small western bergs a group makes a collective decision to form a Wagon Train and they hire the inebriated John Candy as their wagonmaster to travel east. Candy himself at first can't quite acclimate to this new thinking but eventually does.

But the notion of heading back east violates the thinking of the establishment and those making a living on the pioneer spirit. At the same time the Indians see this as a good thing. Makes for some strange alliances.

This was John Candy's last film and lucky we got it completed as he died during the making. I'm sure he had hopes of this turning into another Blazing Saddles. That would have taken Mel Brooks's zaniness.

My favorite in the film is the gay bookseller John C. McGinley who went west for the men, but found them a bit rough for his taste. His scene with the naive and hunky Lochlyn Munro is priceless.

Not a comedy masterpiece, Wagons East is still good fun and viewing.