Movie Review: Uncle Buck (1989)

This movie’s kind of a hard one to judge, or at least it was for me. It’s regarded by many as being a comedy classic, and it’s not hard to see why. John Candy was a remarkable talent, and the character he plays here isn’t too much different from his best work in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

But the movie is quite inconsistent overall. When Candy is interacting with the two young kids (Macaulay Culkin of Home Alone and Gaby Hoffmann of Field of Dreams), it’s very enjoyable. It’s funny and sort of family-friendly.

But this isn’t really the focus of the movie. It’s actually not all that family-friendly when you really get down to it, but I think the movie might be trying to be. At any rate, so much of the movie dwells on Uncle Buck’s relationship with the oldest girl, 15-year-old Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly).

It’s a little weird, and a little creepy, to be honest. Buck is basically a huge narc, and tries to interfere in her personal/dating/sex life.

And in addition to the story, the comedy itself is pretty inconsistent, but when it works, it works. There are some really funny lines here, but a good share of jokes don’t land.

Rating: 6/10