bkoganbing
Uncle Buck is never included many times in a list of good John Hughes films and
I think it's because our protagonist is not an adolescent. Uncle Buck is a forty
something man who at least is chronolically an adult. He's the kind of footloose
character who just won't settle down.It's a crisis at the Russell household as Elaine Bromka's father has a heart attack
and she wants to rush to his side. In this emergency the only available baby and house sitter is her husband Garrett Brown's older unmarried brother good
old Uncle Buck played by John Candy.The younger two Gaby Hoffman and MacCauley Culkin are happy to have their
Uncle Buck there because in many way Candy is not that much more mature than them. His real antagonist is teen Jean Louisa Kelly who is not real happy
about a lot starting with the Russell family recent move from Indianapolis to
Chicago. In this comedy Candy plays a lovable oaf who does a bit of growing up himself
in his babysitting gig. Candy and Kelly are a pair of nasty antagonists and she
won't believe him when he says that Jay Underwood who is hot to trot for her
lacks character. I mean wouldn't you think so if the character had the nickname of 'Bug'?Candy also gets a chance to reassess his relationship with long time girl friend
Amy Madigan. These two have been going out longer than Nathan Detroit
and Adelaide.Best scene in the film is when Candy pinch hits for mom at a parent teacher
conference with Suzanne Shepherd, a most uptight assistant prinipal. Him
telling her off is priceless.One of John Candy's best films, still very funny indeed.
Unhelpful Yoda
I gave Uncle Buck 10/10. I love this film so much. I have watched it so many times I have lost count. John Candy was a fantastic comic actor. This film has many funny quotes. I also like how the film has a sensitive story line in it but still makes the a audience laugh. My favorite parts are when Uncle Buck makes the huge pancakes and Toast for Mile's Birthday and also when he dances with Marci the neighbor from across the street. He tries so hard to do the right thing for his brother's kids and you can see they actually really grow to love him. I think this film is underrated. It's a great film to watch at Christmas and if you have kids too. There aren't many well known actors in it but John Candy and Macaulay Culkin most people will know.
Irishchatter
I always thought John Candy was the best comedic actor out there and it's just too bad that he died so young. He definitely looks like an Uncle figure rather than a dad figure to be honest. Im this film like you would badly want an Uncle like him. He's just so brilliant and talented with his jokes! I also thought Jean Louisa Kelly as the eldest daughter was like the sibling you always hate. She honestly looked cute though for playing as a red up plus annoying teen. I felt so irritated by her like I almost crushed my phone with squeezed my fists haha. She's a really good actress! I couldn't believe how Malcahy Culkin was so tiny in this! He looked so small that now he is a big tall man with long hair! You would still think of him as that little kid from Home Alone but he didn't seem to have a good life after that though. At least he's getting better and looking handsome as a man! Really good late 80's movie and I give this 8/10.
Semisonic
I actually wanted to like this movie. I downloaded it because i thought that maybe it would have that Home Alone vibe. And at some point it seemed that maybe the writer/director John Hughes was trying for the same thing. Even the house of the Russell family looked as if they could live on the same street as McCallisters.Unfortunately, this film lacked the main ingredient that made Home Alone so successful. No, not the dumb robbers and the Saw-like traps inducing pain and agony. It failed to be either funny or gripping. The first fifteen minutes pass, and there's not a single good laughing moment. People on the screen are generally unhappy, pouring their problems right on the viewer's head. But to connect with people's problems you need a dramatic approach, that requires character buildup and a fair degree of seriousness. Instead, we have some slapstick-style comedy tricks like a pile of things falling onto a person who doesn't keep his closet tidy or people yelling on the street in the middle of the night and waking up all the neighbors.I admit that after 20 minutes of watching i turned off this movie. But, to be fair, i gave it enough time to raise at least some amount of interest in me, and it just failed. Maybe Uncle Buck has some moments of glory later on, but if a filmmaker hides everything of value under the overly long, lazy, heavy-hearted and plain boring opening, then it means that something's not right in the Hughes kingdom. A movie where the audience has to sit through all the bland stuff to be given something interesting at last is like a fly in in the ointment, only this time it's not a single fly but a swarm of them and the ointment itself is quite so-so.
AD
