Review of Uncle Buck (1989) by Andy M — 07 Feb 2013

By the end of the 1980's, John Hughes was hugely successful as writer, producer and director, having been praised as a poet laureate of teen films after The Breakfast Club (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Hughes had moved into more mature films with Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), which was a massive hit, he would reunite with John Candy for this very funny and maybe one of Hughes' last great films.

In the suburbs of Chicago, Bob Russell (Garrett M. Brown), his wife Cindy (Elaine Bromka) live with their 3 children Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly), Miles (Macaulay Culkin) and Maizy (Gaby Hoffmann), they've just moved from Indianapolis, and Tia HATES her parents for that.

But, when they get news that Cindy's father has had a heart attack, they have to go, and they need someone to look after the kids, Bob decides to ask his estranged brother Buck (John Candy) to do it.

The kids don't know what to make of Buck, but he is able to bond with them and help them with their problems, and they help him with his on-off girlfriend Chanice (Amy Madigan). It's a very funny film, and John Candy was a likeable presence, and he made his best films with John Hughes.

Despite critical misgivings, it beat rival The Abyss at the box-office well and truly, and Hughes had Culkin cast in his next big production, Home Alone (1990).