Hi, and welcome to the first Thoughts On of the new era! I'm considering having this image of a theater lobby be my default image for movie commentary. Longtime readers may recall that I only started having commentary-specific images within the last two years.
"Where do you live?"
"In the city."
"You have a house?"
"Apartment."
"Own or rent?"
"Rent."
"What do you do for a living?"
"Lots of things."
"Where's your office?"
"I don't have one."
"How come?"
"I don't need one."
"Where's your wife?"
"Don't have one."
"How come?"
"It's a long story."
"You have kids?"
"No I don't."
"How come?"
"It's an even longer story."
"Are you my dad's brother?"
"What's your record for consecutive questions asked?"
"38."
"I'm your dad's brother alright."
"You have more nose hair than my dad."
"Nice of you to notice."
John Hughes has always been a tough nut for me to crack. At his best, he wrote and directed situations that genuinely make me laugh or feel affection for the characters. His worst material tends to have an air of disdain matched by poor or offensive writing. Hughes rarely reached equilibrium, resulting in most of his films having wildly uneven tones and humor.
Uncle Buck, written, directed and produced by Hughes, is one of his more consistent works. It's carried by John Candy, who elevates the material and has chemistry with everyone. Buck (Candy) is a unique character, seedy enough to shake up a suburban household, decent enough to keep the place in one piece and human enough for us to root for.
*Buck is having a late night fireside drink with Percy the dog*
"Last call. There you go. A little for you, a little for me. Boy! People used to say to me, 'Buck, you are one lucky son of a bitch. You got it made, Buck.' And I did. They'd say, 'Man, look at you. You don't have any kids, any wife. You don't have a desk, an office. You don't have a boss to worry about.' They were right. I had it made. Only thing now is, Perce .. nobody says that anymore. Oh, boy. But ... it'll all be better tomorrow. It always is. Because tomorrow, we'll go to the track ... win some dough, some serious dough. Make a lot of money tomorrow, kiddo. ... Want a little pretzel with your beer?"
I find it interesting that Hughes wasn't afraid to get the most out of an idea or even just a fragment. Buck shares DNA with Del Griffith, Jack Walsh and Cousin Eddie. The problem is that once something's been perfected, it's hard to appreciate the prototype or the followup. Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly) and Cindy (Elaine Bromka) have a dynamic that would be better executed in Home Alone*. As for Tia herself, she's not much different from any of Hughes' previous sensitive-insensitive teens.
*Kevin and Kate's reunion scene is almost exactly the same as Tia and Cindy's, right down to the continued hostility fake out.
Watching Uncle Buck again highlighted how out of whack the children's characterization was. Miles (Macaulay Culkin) and Maizy (Gaby Hoffmann) get funny lines, but they're mostly just there to react to the craziness. Aside from Candy and arguably Bromka, the adults aren't much better. Chanice (Amy Madigan), Buck's would-be wife, never quite transitions from a type to a fully-formed character. Still, it's better than Marcie (Laurie Metcalf) and Bug (Jay Underwood), both of whom function "best" as suburban caricatures.
To paraphrase Chanice, my issues with Hughes go beyond a misunderstanding of the neighbor lady. I can never totally write off his work, a lot of which I saw at an early age. It's got rough, unpleasant qualities and too often, the unpleasant wins out. But when it's got heart, it's unmistakable.
"I'm just glad I got a chance to know you again."
Recommended with reservations.
Thoughts:
-- "I don't have to take any shit from you. You know who I am? In the field of local, live home entertainment, I'm a god!"
-- Box Office: Grossing nearly $67 million on a $15 million budget, this opened at No. 1, held the top spot for four weekends and came in at 18th place for 1989.
-- Critic's Corner: "A star vehicle without star power," Rita Kempley wrote. She found Candy likable, but lacking the unpredictability of an Eddie Murphy or Rodney Dangerfield**. Roger Ebert, meanwhile, was struck by Hughes' less precise writing. "It's a tug of war between its ambitions and its methods."
**I think he comes closest when Buck's unaware that he's grossing out Cindy by talking about being bound up lately and all the cheese he eats. The scene could definitely be played with Buck reveling in Cindy's vulnerability, but it would screw up his characterization.
-- Different Takes: Ebert and Kempley differed on Buck's conference with Vice Principal Hogarth (Suzanne Shepherd). She called it the movie's one truly hilarious scene, while he found it too mean spirited. I think the bit was done better with Goldie Hawn in Overboard. Nice touch, though, having Hogarth be a veteran.
-- Different Times: The gag of Tia's classmates dropping to the ground when Buck's car backfires probably wouldn't be allowed today. Ebert again: "It's often a sign of desperation when a character is given a funny car."
-- Today in Classism: I still think it's uncalled for for Cindy to include "that woman who sells tires" as part of the trashy people Buck hangs out with. It might not be white collar work, but Chanice owns her own business and it appears to be doing alright.
-- Hey, It's ...: Anna Chlumsky as Maizy's classmate. Also, Maizy has a Three Amigos poster.
-- "You need a relative for an imposition of this size."
for an imposition of this size. Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=uncle-buck-- Later this weekend: The Adventures of Milo and Otis. Shirley Valentine is on deck.
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