"Here is a film containing some heartfelt but often quite treacly and solemn obsequies to the late John Candy, almost as if he died a few days ago, with stirring, sad music running almost all the way through. There's an amazing lineup of collaborators and stars, and it's good to see Candy's uniquely likable and buoyant screen personality, but the tone borders on the stultifyingly reverential."
"Candy was the much loved Canadian actor and comic who was a star graduate of Toronto's Second City comedy troupe and its small screen offshoot SCTV; he was a contemporary of Dan Aykroyd, Catherine O'Hara and Bill Murray, and went on to star in movies such as Stripes, Uncle Buck and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. His death in 1994 at 43 was due to a heart attack caused by his weight issues, and drinking and smoking (though the movie rather prissily overlooks his cocaine use)."
"The documentary as a whole is perhaps a little too ready to conflate that sweet character with Candy himself, who was a little more complex, more pessimistic and fatalistic after the traumatising death of his father from a heart attack at the age of 35 (when Candy himself was just five), and knowing that his successful career in comedy movies depended on being big."
The film offers heartfelt but often treacly and solemn obsequies to John Candy, with stirring, sad music throughout. The lineup of collaborators and stars highlights Candy's likable, buoyant screen personality, yet the film's tone often becomes reverential. Candy emerged from Toronto's Second City and SCTV, alongside contemporaries like Dan Aykroyd, Catherine O'Hara and Bill Murray, and starred in Stripes, Uncle Buck and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. His 1994 death at 43 resulted from a heart attack linked to weight, drinking and smoking, while cocaine use is lightly omitted. The documentary tends to conflate a sweet on-screen character with a more complex, troubled real person.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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