Ok so Christmas is nearly upon us again so I thought I would try and squeeze one more post in before then and yep this will be a new one with new content and it will be on the comedy film Uncle Buck starring John Candy.
So let's get a move on and look at this un....
And as usual SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!
STORY
Right so the story begins and is set in Chicago with the family of the film, the Russells, Bob (Garret M. Brown) and Cindy (Elaine Bromka) who have three children, a rebelious teenager, Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly), 10 year old Miles (Macaulay Culkin) and 6 year old Maizy (Gaby Hoffmann). One night they receive a phone call saying that Cindy's father has suffered a heart attack, which leaves Cindy and Bob with no choice but to travel to Indianapolis to be with him. Also with little choice of who will look after their kids, the parents approach Bob's brother, Buck (John Candy), somewhat reluctantly, to look after them while they are away to which he agrees. Buck however is something of a slob as he is unemployed and likes to smoke and drink as well as bet on rigged horse races. Buck also has a girlfriend, Chanice Kobolowski (Amy Madigan) who wants him to move in with her and get a job so they can settle down and get married and have children. Buck however tells Chanice that he needs to put her offer of employment until he deals with his family's emergency.
After Bob and Cindy leave, Buck soon befriends Miles and Maizy but Tia disapproves of Buck and they engage in a battle of the wills. Buck later meets Tia's manipulative boyfriend, Bug (Jay Underwood) and he warns her that Bug is only after her for sex and Buck continually thwarts her plans to sneak away with Bug at any opportunity. Buck also deals with various situations in a variety of different ways such as using the microwave to do the children's laundry (as the washing machine doesn't work), making gigantic pancakes for Miles's birthday, and also punching out the lights of a drunken clown who was booked for Miles. Buck also takes the kids with him to his bowling alley and visits Maizy's school to speak with the asssitant school principal (Suzanne Shepherd) who he berates when she badmouths Maizy and he also insults her for having a large wart on her chin.
Things however soon get more complicated for Buck when a next door neighbour, the amorous Marcy (Laurie Metcalf) tries to makes advances on him as they dance and he is caught by Chanice, after Tia implied that Buck and Marcy have been going out together. Chanice then angrily breaks off her relationship with Buck as a result. And to make matters worse soon after Tia sneaks off to a slumber party to meet up with Bug, leaving Buck with little choice but to take Miles and Maizy to the racetrack where he intends to bet his money but he has an attack of conscience and calls Chanice and pleads with her to look after the kids while he goes and looks for Tia. And this soon leads into the film's comic and also emotional climax....
THOUGHTS
Uncle Buck for me is easily one of John Hughes's funniest comedies and its a film that has a great deal of charm and warmth to it. And Buck is very much a likeable character, despite being a slob he proves his worth as the film goes on and shows good responsibility for the children he is to look after. The film also has a poignant side to it as well given that Buck was considered almost the forgotten brother by Bob and his wife Cindy as seen in the scene where Buck looks at a wedding photograph of Bob and Cindy to see that he had been cropped out of the frame. The kids in the film also provide some amusement although it is a pretty hackneyed story regarding Tia's teenage rebellion but for the most part it feels very much like the John Candy show and this film was a perfect vehicle for him.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES
As for the performances they are pretty much all excellent starting with John Candy who you could say he was born to play the part of Uncle Buck, a genial slob who is given the task to look after three kids, which soon turns out to be more complicated than he thought.
And Candy has his fair share of funny moments in the film of which I will name a few and for starters there is the scene where after Bob and Cindy have just left, Buck idly walks around the house and he clumsily bumps into a unit with vases and plates, one of the valuable looking plates drops on the floor but doesn't break. So Buck picks it up with surprise and says "Unbreakable" but on testing it out he hits against the table and smashes it! Then there is the moment where Buck drops Tia off at school and he asks what time he is to pick her up after school and Tia defiantly says she will get a ride from her friends and Buck says to her warningly "Stand me up today and tomorrow I'll drive you to school in my robe and pajamas and walk you to your first class!".
Another good scene is when Buck picks up Tia from school and he sees Tia kissing Bug and as she gets into the car, Bug teases Buck about the loud bang his car makes when he parks it. And Bug says to him "You ever hear of a tune-up? Hee hee hee!" abd Buck sarcastically teases him back "Ah hee hee hee. You ever hear of a ritual killing?! Hee hee hee!". And Bug confused says "I don't get it" and Buck warns him "You gnaw on her face in public like that again and you'll be one! Hee hee hee!".
There there is the funny scene when Buck meets with the assistant school principal at Maizy's school who says "She doesn't take a single thing seriously in her academic career!" and Buck says "She's only six!". And Buck continues angrily by saying "I don't have a college degree. I don't even have a job. But I know a good kid when I see one. Because they're ALL good kids, until dried-out, brain-dead skags like you drag them down and convince them they're no good. You so much as scowl at my niece, or any other kid in this school, and I hear about it, and I'm coming looking for you!". And before he leaves Buck says to the assistant principal "Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you, madam!".
And another amusing scene comes when Buck makes massive pancakes for Miles's birthday and as Miles comes down the stairs he looks on amazed at the size of the pancakes. And Buck says to him "You should see the toast. I couldn't even get it through the door!". And in the next scene Buck tells Miles that his mother had booked a clown for him and Buck goes to the door when the clown (played by Mike Starr) arrives but he's drunk. And when Buck notices he is drunk he says to the clown "It's just that I wouldn't be drinking if I was going to entertain some kids. You know?" but then the clown becomes angry and says " I don't have to take this shit from you. You know who I am? In the field of local-live-home entertainment, I'm a god!". And Buck then angrily says "Get in your mouse, and get out of here!" and the clown then says angrily "Hey, you, let me tell you something you low-life-lying-four-flushing-sack-of-shit!" and Buck punches him twice.
Candy also has some good moments when he is being more serious too such as the scene when he calls Chanice and pleads with her to help him look after the kids while he goes looking for Tia. And in the scene Buck says to Chanice on the phone of Tia "She's angry, she's 15, she's confused and I need to find her". And later when Buck driving the streets finally finds Tia who walks the streets alone at night he picks her up and as Tia tearfully says she is sorry, Buck says to her "Hey, come on. You've got nothing to be sorry about. I'm just glad I got a chance to know you again".
And lastly there is the fun scene where Buck reveals that to Tia that he locked Bug in the boot of his car (or trunk in the US). And Buck says to Bug "You know I think you'd both be doing us a favour if you apologise to the young lady right now" and Bug angrily yells "I'M SORRY!!! OK, ASSHOLE??!! I'M SORRY!". And Buck says afterward "I don't know if I ever told you but I'm actually a qualified dentist" and Tia smiles and says "Oh he is" and she picks up Buck's drill and laughs wickedly leaving Bug terrified and he meekly says "I'm sorry". However after Buck let's Bug go, Bug rants on the street after Buck drives off yelling "I'm gonna kick your ass, man! You're dead!" prompting Buck to reverse and go back and he says "OK pal! Time for a golf lesson!" and he takes out a golf club and sets up a golf ball on a tee and he hits Bug in the back of the head with it! And afterward Tia laughs in the car with Buck who says to her "I don't know what you saw in that guy. Can you tell me?? No don't answer, don't answer!".
Jean Louisa Kelly is also pretty good in her role as the rebellious teenager Tia who locks horns with Buck the whole time he is there look after her and the other two kids. Kelly also some good moments in the film too such as the scene when after Buck picks up Tia from school after having just met Bug for the first time. And as Buck prys on her personal life with Bug, Tia sharply says "I'd recommend that you stay out of my personal life!" and Buck says "Do your parents stay out of your personal life?" and Tia says "They don't know about my personal life". And when Tia tells Buck, Bug's name he kids her on saying "What's his last name? Spray??" and Tia snaps back "You should talk...Buck!".
And lastly there is the scene when Tia argues with Buck over how her parents only called him because they were desparate. And Tia snaps at Buck saying "Who are you trying to score points with? My parents? How many times have they had you over here since we moved? Try none until they went up Shit Creek and got stuck!". And as Buck walks away, Tia refers to his mishap with Marcy and Chanice and she says "Hey Buck! Have a bad day today?! It hurts when someone messes with your life, doesn't it?!".
Amy Madigan is also very good in the film as Buck's long suffering girlfriend, Chanice who wants Buck to get a job and get married to her. Madigan has some good moments in the film also that include the scene when Buck tells her that he can't start work for her due to his family emergency and he can't get a word in edgeways as she rants on the phone to him and she finishes by finally saying "Goodbye!" to him. And then there is the scene where Chanice phones up to speak to Buck but instead get's Tia who teases her by saying that Buck was out with Marcy last night. And Tia asks her "Would you like to leave a message?" and Chanice takes a moment, shocked, she then says "No, no message thank you" and she hangs up, taken aback, she seethes and the news sinks in she says "No message!".
Then there is the moment where Buck calls Chanice and asks for her help with the kids after he catches him dancing with Marcy and she tells him that she will reluctantly help him "OK I will help you because there are kids involved but as far as you and me are concerned, it is over". And lastly there is the moment where Chanice turns up at Russell's house to look after Miles and Maizy and she says to Miles through the letterbox "I'm supposed to come over and look after you?!". And as Miles asks to say her licence and registration, she then shows it, still inside her wallet and as Miles asks her to take it out the wallet, Chanice bemused says "Take it out of there????!" and Mile shuts the letterbox in her face.
And lastly we get to the two younger children in the cast, Macaulay Culkin and Gaby Hoffmann as Miles and Maizy respectively.
Starting with Culkin who was in his element here as a child actor and this was just before his Home Alone fame. Admittedly though Culkin is still pretty annoying in this film as he plays yet another cocky, precocious kid and it wouldn't the first time he had done that in his career! Still Culkin does have one or two amusing moments such as the scene where Miles at his school sits down for lunch and brings out some weird foods such as sardines and he says to the other kids "Would you like to talk about a possible lunch trade?" and the other kids scarper from the table! And lastly there is the scene where Chanice turns up at the Russells's front door and Mile sits behind the front door with a bag of crisps next time as he keeps checking the letterbox when Chanice is looking away. And he eventually says her to "Could I see your licence and registration, ma'am?" and Chanice opens her wallet which shows her licence and reg but then Miles asks her "Could you take it out of there?" leaving Chanice bemused as he shuts the letterbox on her.
As for Gaby well she is by the far more likeable of the two kids, well in fact all three kids, and she has a few amusing moments in the film aswell. And these include the scene when we see a flashback of Maizy at school during the scene when Buck meets with the assistant principal of the school. And in the flashback Maizy's teacher asks if anyone has an interesting story to tell and Maizy says "My uncle was micro waving our socks and the dog threw up on the couch for an hour". And when the teacher asks why Buck was microwaving her socks, Maizy says "He can't get the goddamn washing machine to work" with prompts the teacher yell "BLASPHEMER!!!". And lastly there is the scene where Buck picks up Tia from school and waits for her as she kisses Bug goodbye and Maizy says "I bet she is giving him tongue!" much to Buck's surprise.
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the film's director (and writer) John Hughes has done another fine job here and this film is something of a hybrid in that it deals with the world of children and adults unlike most of his other teen based films. Hughes's script is also very funny and its also very charming too and as already mentioned Hughes provides some funny gags in the film and even though he wasn't always the most technically skillful of film maker he paces the film out well and moves along nicely.
As for the film's music score by Ira Newborn its nothing overly special but its a plesant enough score overall and it fits the film pretty well for purpose. The film also features some other tracks such as "Mr Sandman" performed by The Chordettes, "Tweedle dee" by La Vern Baker, and "Got more ryhmes" by Marvin Yoing.
FLAWS
As for Uncle Buck's flaws....yeah OK its not perfect as such and has one or two snags.
And to start off I think the film's plot is pretty basic and features alot of cliches that you would expect to see in such adult/teen comedy-dramas, such as the rebellious teenager who dates the obnoxious school heart throb, and how she fights against her parental guardian all the time before she eventually comes to her senses. Its basically nothing new to be had here and ultimately its just another story of growing up and/orcoming of age etc.
Another issue comes from the fact that it has to be said that Buck's family are also just a bit mean spirited in how they couldn't be really that bothered with him and how they never even invited him over to his house at any time except for their family emergency. And even though I'm sure there is a reality to this it makes you think just how selfish and ungrateful that his brother and his sister in law really are to him up until this point.
You could also argue that even though Miles and Maizy are both supposed to be cute kids, and while Maizy is a likeable kid, Miles falls foul of being another precocious little brat who quickly becomes quite grating. And this is well noted in the scene where Tia makes Miles sit in his chair and he says to her "You always kick me around, I'm an American and I have rights!" and just think to yourself "achh just shut up ya little brat!". And the part just serves a precursor for Culkin's role in Home Alone where he would go on to be even more annoying.
Also its worth noting that Buck while overall he actually does a fairly good job of minding the kids he does let them down when it comes to getting Chanice to come over and look after them as he doesn't wait until she arrives and he just heads out to find Tia and leaves them alone! So that is definitely one minus for Buck as he really should have waited until Chanice had come around yet nothing is really made of it in the film. And ultimately I think its just a setup for the gag where Miles asks to see Chanice's ID.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So in summary, Uncle Buck is a funny, charming film which served as a perfect vehicle for John Candy's comedic talents and it features many highlights for him alone that range from him preparing oversized pancakes, to threatening Bug with his axe and not to mention seeing Buck struggle to use the children's urinals in school! And while it isn't quite a perfect film and does have some minor flaws its still a film that holds up well and remains one of John Hughes's best comedies.
And that's it for now and it only remains for me to wish you all a Merry Christmas and I will be back during the festive period with another post (or two) just before the end of the year.
Until then bye for now.
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