Only the Lonely | | Cast : | John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy | | Director : | Chris Columbus | | Studio : | Anchor Bay Entertain | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | May 24, 1991 | | DVD Released Date : | June 14, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 07, 2005 | | Summary | Finally a real love story.... | Content
 | With so many romance movies coming out, most of them based on a false love (money and/or lust)...it's refreshing to see a movie where the only thing the two characters love is each other. Neither character has much to offer...other than themselves...and that turns out to be enough. Throw in an intrusive mother for a little humor, and this movie has it all. Highly recommended. If you like this movie, you will probably also like "The Mirror Has Two Faces" |
| Rating | | | Date | June 20, 2005 | | Summary | Candy's Finest Hour | Content
| In John Candy's short but prolific film career he made few films that were up to his prodigious talents. This is the best of the bunch. There is no debating that Candy was up to the light-hearted comedy demanded of him in his role as affable Chicago cop Danny Muldoon. Candy was also more than capable of delivering on the dramatic elements in this story of a 38 year-old man finding love for the first time. Credit that to that to the capable direction of Chris Columbus and his knowing script. Candy also gets to play with some first class pros and I think that upped his game. Maureen O'Hara was lost none of her star appeal in her golden years as Danny's demanding mother. This role could have been played as a stereotype but O'Hara injects complexity and, yes, sympathy for her character. Ally Sheedy may also have had the best role of her career as Theresa, the introverted funeral home cosmetologist who is the object of Danny's affection. Anthony Quinn also delivers an amusing turn as Danny's neighbor who burns the torch for his mother. This film is an unqualified heartwarming success. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 06, 2005 | | Summary | Just telling it like it is... | Content
| It's great that "Only The Lonely" is being re-released. For a while it had been OOP. This is one of John Candy's best roles. I recommend getting it as soon as it's available. I know I will...I'm just telling it like it is! |
| Rating | | | Date | November 11, 2004 | | Summary | Definitely due for DVD release! | Content
| "Only the Lonely" is actually a very interesting film, featuring on a procession of lonely people. As much as the Roy Orbison title song sums up the plot, so would "Eleanor Rigby" ... "All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"
In addition to John Candy's Danny and Ally Sheedy's Theresa, there are more lonely people - Danny's mother Rose, trapped in an isolation of her own making, played to a tee by Maureen O'Hara in a great performance. Anthony Quinn, as Nick, would love to rescue her, but she is too stubborn and obstinate to let him in. In reinforcing her own loneliness, Rose is also condemning Danny to his own isolation, as well as Nick.
Through Candy's terrific performance (by far, the best of his all-too-short career), we find out that Danny is actually a very good guy - a hard worker who himself sacrificed so his younger brother could go to law school, a dutiful son who, even 25 years later, still feels regrets over his father's inabilities to make it big in business. In short, a big lug who would be a great catch for a girl like Teresa.
Ally Sheedy also does a fine job with Teresa. I have read reviews describing this character as "muted," "inconspicuous" and "apologetic," which I think totally miss the point, which is actually explained in a scene early in the movie.
Teresa simply is a very shy person, lacking in self-confidence and aggressiveness. It's not only being shy - she has a real emotional problem with it. She sometimes retreats into a shell and as a result sometimes is out of the center of the action. She has gravitated into a career that reinforces this isolation.
I think Sheedy actually nailed this character trait very well. She's pretty, neither drop-dead gorgeous nor an ugly duckling. Another nice-looking girl of whom you know somebody could say, "You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're all right..."
We learn a little more about her dreams and aspirations and of course we realize she and Danny are perfect for each other, if only they can figure it out and find their way around Rose.
In very brief bit parts, we see, as part of the crowd of regulars at the Irish pub Danny and Rose frequent, three middle-aged (LATE-middle-aged) confirmed bachelors, bar-hounds, kind of Cliff-Claven-plus-20-years type characters -- full of wisecracks, jokes, Irish drinking songs -- but also alone, so much so when one of them dies, there's virtually nobody to even come to his funeral.
These are obviously cautionary tales to Danny - the Ghosts of his Christmases Yet To Come. A look at what his life will be in 25 years when Rose is gone, and he has no one left.
At the end, of course, love does conquer all, and we wouldn't want it any other way. Teresa gets the guts to go after Danny, Nick gets the guts to go after Rose, Danny gets the guts to cut loose of Rose, and Rose finally gets the guts to not only let him do it, but to tell him to.
Sure, it's mushy and predictable. But it makes the heartache a little more bearable. Absolutely a must movie for DVD someday, so get with it! |
| Rating | | | Date | July 13, 2004 | | Summary | Subtle comic role really allows John Candy to shine | Content
| John Candy turns in a wonderful performance as Chicago police officer Danny Muldoon, in his late-30s and still living with his mother. He tries to pursue a relationship with a young girl working as a makeup artist in a funeral home, but his Irish mother won't seem to let go. Quite a charming story, with a few jolts coming from Danny's imagined fears of his mother being harmed when he's not there for her. The way Chicago is represented is hit-or-miss, possibly due to licensing issues for some of the more well-known Chicago images (most notably, the Chicago policeman's uniform and the design of the Chicago squad car), but those flaws notwithstanding the movie still has a Chicago feel to it. There actually are still a few remaining store-front funeral homes in Chicago, and of course the plentiful Irish pubs are captured perfectly. Probably the unheralded star of the movie is old Comiskey Park, which for 80 years was the home of the Chicago White Sox. The filming took place after the final baseball game was played there in 1990 (and a few months before its fateful date with the wrecking ball), and the first-date picnic on the playing field was a wonderful and touching sendoff for the old park. After going to many White Sox games there since age 5, it sure was nice to see the fireworks from the scoreboard one last time! |
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