The John Candy Classic Comedy Leaving Netflix For Good
You might consider yourself an expert on ‘80s culture, but what if there was a huge gap in your education of the era? Far too many people have never seen Uncle Buck, the hilarious John Candy film from iconic director John Hughes. Fortunately, that’s a mistake you can soon rectify as long as you stream it on Netflix before it leaves on November 1.
The John Candy classic Uncle Buck is streaming on Netflix, but will leave the platform on November 1.
John Candy plays the titular uncle who gets pulled into long-term babysitting duty after his brother and the brother’s wife have to leave town due to a family emergency. Cultures collide as Buck bonds with the younger kids and clashes with his teenage niece.
Both the kids and Candy’s kid-at-heart character learn a few valuable lessons about being better people and, perhaps more importantly, being a better family.
Needless to say, the outstanding performance of John Candy is one of the primary reasons to stream this film. Candy gave knockout performances in other ‘80s standby films such as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, but he usually had to share the spotlight with other actors (like perpetual straight man Steve Martin).
In Uncle Buck, Candy plays the title character and effortlessly steals every scene, and his performance is likely to leave you breathless with laughter.
If you’re already pretty familiar with John Hughes’ filmography, then you may find that Uncle Buck looks visually quite familiar.
While Candy is a compelling enough reason to check Uncle Buck out, he is joined by some other great character actors giving their own awesome performances. For example, we get a rare pre-Home Alone appearance from Macaulay Culkin. We also get a standout performance from Laurie Metcalf, who would have been only one year into Roseanne when this movie was released.
While the director of a film is always important, we want to draw special attention to the fact that Uncle Buck was directed by John Hughes. He’s the guy who directed Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and so many more.
If you’re a child of the ‘80s or even late ‘70s, this guy basically defined your childhood, and nobody handles the blend of humor and heart (qualities very abundant in Uncle Buck) quite like Hughes.
If you’re already pretty familiar with John Hughes’ filmography, then you may find that Uncle Buck looks visually quite familiar. As with so many of Hughes movies, it was filmed in and around the Chicago area. That means plenty of visual Easter Eggs for residents and frequent visitors to the Windy City.
There was never any serious talk of remaking Uncle Buck for modern audiences, the original very soon got remade for a different audience altogether.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a Chicago fanboy to enjoy Uncle Buck, and the movie ended up being quite successful for Universal Pictures. Against a modest budget of $15 million, the film went on to gross $79.2 million. This was the first part of a three-picture deal Universal had struck with Hughes, and the studio was understandably pleased with the major profit.
While it was a tad more divisive among critics, Uncle Buck still managed to win the film community over. Critics praised the film for its solid writing and big laughs courtesy of unleashing John Candy amid a precocious cast of young charges.
With all this success, you might have expected Universal Pictures to explore a sequel to Uncle Buck. And while we never got anything like an Uncle Buck 2, the success of the original film did lead to a short-lived Uncle Buck television show. Sadly, none of the film cast reprised their roles, and the television show had Kevin Meaney replace John Candy in the title role.
There was never any serious talk of remaking Uncle Buck for modern audiences, the original very soon got remade for a different audience altogether. After the success of that first movie, it received an Indian remake in the form of Uncle Bun.
While your enjoyment of this remake largely hinges on your ability to enjoy cheesy Bollywood cinema, it’s wild to think that this Hughes/Candy team-up was so popular that it warranted a remake aimed toward the other side of the world.
Ultimately, Uncle Buck isn’t the best John Candy film, nor is it the best film directed by John Hughes. However, the blunt truth is that these two creators at their absolute worst are better than most modern actors and directors on their best day. If you’re ready to finally spend some time with Uncle Buck (trust us, it’s worth it), be sure to hurry: it’s leaving Netflix after November 1.
