Uncle Buck (1989)

Directed by John Hughes. Starring John Candy, Jean Louisa Kelly, Amy Madigan, Macaulay Culkin, Gaby Hoffman, Jay Underwood, Laurie Metcalf, Elaine Bromka, Garrett M. Brown. [PG]

When his brother and sister-in-law are abruptly called away from home because of a health scare in her family, irresponsible and unreliable Buck (Candy) comes to town to babysit the kids and take care of the household for a few days. He gets along with the youngest two children (Culkin, Hoffman) just fine, but the teenager (Kelly) in the house is sullen and distant, so they butt heads constantly. Star vehicle sits in tonal disarray, with Buck being seen as both a big-hearted clod around the house (he’s grilling giant pancakes, he’s microwaving laundry, etc.) and a shiftless and mean-spirited menace when dealing with others. The movie is full of negative feelings, but within the safe confines of a sitcom-ish “family comedy” boasting the exaggerated punchlines writer/director John Hughes is known for—whether initially or eventually, I’m supposed to like these characters, but I never did. The mom and oldest daughter openly dislike Buck, Buck is hostile towards anyone who displeases him, and even when his targets have it coming, like a drunken birthday clown, there’s no joy in the way they’re dispatched with a remark or bodily harm. The script even trots out the old sexual-misunderstanding chestnut in order for Buck to be in the doghouse with girlfriend Madigan when she catches him dancing with a divorced neighbor (broadly played by Laurie Metcalf). Candy did fine work in Hughes productions before and after (Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Only the Lonely), but he stumbles with this one; heck, he managed more nuance with this kind of character in just a few minutes of screentime in Home Alone. Be on the lookout for Culkin’s future My Girl co-star, Anna Chlumsky, in a classroom.

41/100