Uncle Buck | | Cast : | John Candy, Macaulay Culkin | | Director : | John Hughes | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | August 16, 1989 | | DVD Released Date : | August 23, 2005 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 10, 2005 | | Summary | Master OF The Rare LASERDISCs movies. | Content
 | I am John Hughes's FAN,I have most of his Movies,hes a great FILMMAKER,,And No Doubt John Candy was a legend [ he may rest in Peace] I have John Candy's Collection And UNCLE BUCK is one of my Rare LASERDISC OF The 80s...you'll love it much :P |
| Rating | | | Date | May 10, 2005 | | Summary | One of John Candy's Finer Roles | Content
| After "Only the Lonely"(DVD release, please!) this is probably one of the late, great John Candy's finer screen moments. Credit has to go to director-screenwriter John Hughes for presenting a full-bodied portrait of an adult male adolescent who through circumstance is forced to grow up and take responsibility. In a way this film kind of explores themes that writer Nick Hornby assayed years later. Not to say that there aren't moments of enjoyable broad comedy but a nice balance is on display here with the more serious themes and the humor. The humor is not over-the-top and it is grounded in reality. Candy shows tremendous range here. It's a known fact that he was a master comedian but here he flexes some dramatic muscles and makes Buck one of his more indelible characters. Jean Kelly is equally impressive as Tia the sullen, rebellious teenage girl in Buck's charge. This character could have been insufferable but Kelly hits all the right buttons and gives an accurate account of teen angst. The two younger children played by Macauley Culkin and Gaby Hoffmann come off as normal and unaffected. Not only is this one of Candy's better projects but Hughes' as well. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 03, 2005 | | Summary | Every family has an Uncle Buck don't they? | Content
| This is funny stuff. I've heard some critics bag this because of it's shallow silliness but that's what gives Candy his laughs.
John Candy belongs in movies like this. "Summer Rental" and "The great Outdoors" are others where his comedy rocks. I think directors know Candy's talents shine where family issues with kids are involved. Uncle Buck is John Candy's best film. I love his no shockers bouncing car with an on time BANG upon stopping.
Heartfelt moments melded with great laughs make this essential to all Candy fans |
| Rating | | | Date | January 14, 2005 | | Summary | John Candy at his finest | Content
| Uncle Buck is Da man. John Candy is perfect as Buck Russel, the irresponsible misfit of his family. The late John Candy's comic timing and execution of his jokes are perfect and he gives the best performance of his career in this wonderful movie.
Called to watch three children during a family emergency, Buck wants to prove to his girlfriend he can be responsible. As a guardian, he clashes with Tia, the rebellious teenage daughter and bonds with two smaller kids who can't get enough of the loveable lout. Look for a great Macaulay Culkin and the girl from Sleepless in Seattle as the younger kids Buck takes care of. Candy has great chemistry with the smaller kids. Also look for Laurie Metcalf from Roseanne in a hilarious cameo as a wacky neighbor.
While Buck has trouble in the beginning, he soon starts handling business. Great scenes include him making huge pancakes for Mac's birthday party, punching out a drunken clown, taking on a nasty school principal, and embarrassing Tia's punk boyfriend Bug. (The scene at the party with the power drill on the bedroom door is great, but the hatchet scene is a classic!) By the end of the movie Uncle Buck is Da man proving he's responsible and showing his girl a new side of him.
The acting in this movie is top notch and Hughes direction is solid. I love the cinematography; Hughes makes some beautiful pictures to tell his great story. I love the shot of the car driving away from the high school! I see this film as the one where Hughes transitioned from angst filled teen movies to slapstick filled comedies like "Home Alone". An early scene in this movie no doubt inspired John Hughes' 1990 masterpiece "Home Alone", Where Buck leaves the kids "Home Alone". Buy this movie cause you will not be disappointed.
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| Rating | | | Date | December 27, 2004 | | Summary | Typical John Hughes | Content
| Director/writer John Hughes is one of those Hollywood success stories who has left in his wake a heap of popular and often entertaining films, leaving an indelible stamp on motion picture history. He may not have won a ton of awards, but the regular folks (as opposed to film snobs) love his work and have made him a very wealthy man. A list of his better known films would have to start with "Home Alone" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and would continue with "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty in Pink," "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles," and "Sixteen Candles," as well as many others.
This particular John Hughes film stars John Candy as Uncle Buck, the kind of character Candy specialized in. He's a middle-aged kid who can't seem to find a good reason to accept any responsibility in life. As he says in one scene, "People used to say to me, 'Buck, you've got it made. You've got no kids, no wife, no office, no desk, no boss, nothing to tie you down. You've really got it made.' Well, they don't say that to me any more."
Among Hughes's "coming of age" pictures, this one is unique. The coming of age is usually a teen or preteen. Here's it's Uncle Buck who is coming of age. His brother and sister-in-law have to leave town for a few days to tend his brother's ailing father-in-law, and they are absolutely devoid of babysitters...except for Uncle Buck, the embarrassing relation they have chosen to avoid until now. Their three kids include 15-year-old Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly, now seen on TV's "Yes, Dear," in her film debut), 8-year-old Miles (Macaulay Culkin, his first major film role and the one that inspired Hughes to give him his next major role in a little something called "Home Alone"), and 6-year-old Gaby Hoffman (shortly before she played the child lead in "Sleepless in Seattle").
You can practically write the film yourself from there, to a point. Buck has to be responsible for the kids, falls in love with them, is a far better (and much, much funnier) surrogate dad than anyone could have guessed, and by film's end things have all changed for the better. Sure, it's a little too much of a happy Hollywood ending to be true (OK, way much too much), but one doesn't expect Shakespeare here, just good, solid, entertaining comedy with a heart. That's typical John Hughes, and since he gives us so many good laughs we forgive him if it doesn't always completely ring true. "Uncle Buck" may be underrated among Hughes's films, but it's well worth remembering. |
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