John Candy: I Like Me: Movie Review

Director: Colin Hanks

This affectionate documentary is less interested in taking a deep dive into the dark demons that haunted John Candy, and is more interested in the idea of presenting a piece about what a truly beloved person he was by those who knew him and those whose worlds he briefly orbited.

When he died in March 1994, he'd lived only briefly, but if Colin Hanks' documentary is anything to be believed, his light had burned brightly and vehemently - even if parts of that time on Earth was captured by other people's preconceptions of him.

Every single interviewee that talks about him is tinged with sadness. Whether it's Bill Murray's opening salvo that he adored Candy or Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara's recollections of their times with him during Second City TV and pre-fame days, nobody appears to have a bad word said about the actor who became a big star with the likes of Uncle Buck and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

From clips of his work to interviews by others, there's a haunting sadness at the heart of this effortlessly positive portrayal - a man haunted by the death of his father at the age of 35 on his fifth birthday. Growing up without a father seemed pivotal for Candy but this hagiography is less interested in delving into the damage caused by it, merely using it as a framework as to how it shaped him as a father for others and how it thrust him into the role of a father when he was just five years old.

Interestingly the only other darkness that emerges is the matter of his weight, a glimpse of which is given in interviews that continue to bring it up. There are moments when footage shows Candy slipping a little as he explains how it hurts, before some kind of people-pleasing lever fires within him and he turns it into a joke.

It's these kind of moments that Hanks mines well, with subtlety and care - but which provide the tantalising glimpse into the sadness that haunted him. And certainly when details emerge of his death, it's utterly heartbreaking to see how he spent his final moments after a life lived in such a way.

And yet, there's something inspirational to be gleamed from this - a salutation and acknowledgement that a decent guy can have an extreme ripple effect and an exhortation that maybe as a viewer, that's a life lesson anyone watching should take away.

Sure, it's a very one-sided documentary in parts, but when it's about paying tribute to one of Hollywood's good guys, maybe that's not actually a bad thing.

John Candy: I Like Me premieres on Prime Video from October 10.