TIFF '25: John Candy and The Mystery of Comedic Talent

There are two things that have come to define me more than any other parts of my identity over my 42 years on the his planet. One is that I am Canadian. The other is that I like movies. The former has been shared with everyone I grew up with in the Northern BC hamlet of Fraser Lake. The latter is something I thought I shared with my friends and family growing up, but somewhere around my teenage years I realised I was different, like most film geeks experience at some point or another. 

One constant binding both of these identities together has always been the comedy legend and good ol' Canadian boy, John Candy . 

John Candy: I Like Me2025

The new documentary I Like Me from director Colin Hanks is a pretty comprehensive look at Candy's career, upbringing, and impact on the world. The film opens with Bill Murray  warning Hanks that his documentary is going to suck because he's not going to find anyone who will say a bad word about John. It's a fitting warning, because it's true. Comedy legends like Dan Aykroyd, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, and even the director's father Tom Hanks talk at length about a man they revered. Both as a comedic genius, but also as a person. 

In that way, the documentary is exactly as Bill Murray warns us. The conflict within the documentary comes not from who John Candy was on the outside, but rather what he was dealing with internally. The sudden death of his father when John was only 5 years old seems to be agreed upon as the root cause of his later anxiety, lack of personal confidence despite all his success, and desire to keep everyone around him happy no matter what. These were symptoms of the hole in John left by his father's passing, but they also helped to propel him towards stardom. In this way, the documentary confronts the age-old question, where does a talent like John Candy's come from? Does there have to be suffering at the core of comedic genius?

There's not a time in my life where I don't remember liking John Candy. His early career with SCTV was constantly in reruns as I was growing up in the ‘80s and his film career was in full swing. The documentary goes into all of that as you would expect. It covers his breakout role in Splash, his move into comedy movie star, and even his time as owner of the Toronto Argonauts with Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall. Professionally speaking though, there's a time in the late '80s when John Candy officially launched into the comedy stratosphere. It was exactly at the time that he met John Hughes. I didn't know that John Candy and John Hughes were best friends. It makes total sense given the fact their collaborations on screen were some of the best work John Candy ever did. 

In 1987 they teamed up for their first collaboration, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. To me, this is a perfect comedy. You have 3 massive talents at the top of their game in John Candy, John Hughes, and Steve Martin. The film is consistently hilarious, but its also got an emotional backbone that packs a real punch. When John Candy's character, Del Griffith gives his famous “I like me” speech from which this documentary takes its title, the film goes to a place most comedies don't go. At least, not successfully. Then, at the end, when it's revealed that Del's life is not what he made it out to be, the film really transcends into classic territory. These are moments that work preciscly because it's John Candy in that role. I can't imagine another actor of the time even coming close to that level of believable vulnerability. 

Then cameThe Great Outdoors. Another Hughes collaboration (he wrote the script, but didn't direct). Here we get John Candy as father. A role he felt totally natural in. His real life kids, Jennifer and Christopher, are both in the film quite extensively. Once again, to prove Bill Murray right, they confirm that the warm and loving father their dad played in the movies was indeed just how he was off screen as well. This film played over and over again in my house growing up. Everytime my family eats steak for a meal, someone inevitable points out, “You ain't done! There's gristle left.” 

Rounding out this John Hughes triple play of John Candy performances in the late ‘80s is Uncle Buck. In the character of Buck, the full charisma and heart that John Candy had to offer gets to be on display. Buck is a ne'er-do-well screw up who's called in to look after his brother's kids as absolute last resort. The young son of the family is played by Macaulay Culkin and the chemistry he has with John Candy in the film is electric. Culkin describes the experience of working with John Candy in the documentary. As expected, he remembers John Candy being warm and welcoming, but he also mentions how Candy took notice of how problematic Culkin's father already was. This was before the smash hit of Home Alone, but even then the abuse was showing through. 

While he played so many characters over the years, you really can't beat this trio in terms of comedic quality coupled with so much heart. Any actor who made 3 movies this good essentially back to back to back would be on the Mount Rushmore of Comedy. As a kid, there were some parts of the stories I didn't totally get when they came out. I was looking at John Candy in these roles through child's eyes, but he was one of those guys that just exuded comforting feelings. There was always a kindness about him that came through. Catherine O'Hara notes in the doc that even though John had many distict characters, John was always there. For a lot of actors, this would be a slight against their work. For John Candy, it was a special something that made him impossible not to like on screen. He played characters who were schemers, annoying salesmen, washed up has-beens, but there was always that thing behind his eyes. That vulnerable, innate charismatic spark. 

He was also one of those guys that used to make my dad laugh. That was a super power I wanted to unlock for myself. Not just to make my dad laugh, but to make other people laugh to. When people are laughing, they're at ease. Things are safe when there's genuine laughter in the air. I didn't lose my dad when I was 5. He's still alive and well, thankfully (hi, dad!). I did grow up with a big secret, knowing I was different. And it wasn't just because I liked movies more than my friends. In that way, I identify with John Candy's friend's descriptions of him as a people-pleaser. He just wanted everyone to be at ease, because he knew what it felt like to not be at ease. I don't know if he also felt, like I do, that comedy in social settings can be a super power just as much as it can be on the silver screen. A quick-witted joke, or well timed self-deprecating remark can unlock situations and bring people closer together in a magical way. 

Watching so many comedy legends talk about John Candy with such reverence, not only for his comedic abilities but also his ability to be a human, left me feeling so bittersweet. I'm deeply proud to call John Candy a fellow Canadian, and I knew the documentary would be a nostalgic experience reliving all his great moments in front of the camera. I just wasn't quite prepared for the deep sadness this story was going to impart to me. 

John Candy died at 43 years old from a heart attack. 

They shut down the LA freeway for his funeral procession. Something that's only ever happened for Popes and Presidents before. Even though I was only 11 years old when he passed away, I remember being sad. In fact, he might be the first celebrity to die in my lifetime that I actually took notice of. 

Christopher, John's son, shares in the doc that he's been going to therapy through his entire adult life. He's working to come to terms with his father's death. He also reveals that it was easier for him to go to therapy because his dad had been doing so for the last few years of his life. The deep pain he'd been carrying his entire life was giving him panic attacks on set. He was almost uninsurable as an actor near the end of his life due to his poor health. Something Christopher ascribes to his unresolved trauma. 

I don't know where John Candy's immense talent came from, but I can pretty much guarantee it wasn't solely because his dad passed away when he was a child. There's a lot of hurt out there in the world, and comedy can be like a bandage for sure. But it's also just an innate part of being a human alive on the planet. Rather than thinking about how John Candy's circumstances led to his talent, I think we should be asking how much longer the world and his family might've gotten to enjoy his company if the tragic events of his childhood were able to be dealt with in a healthier way. 

There have been amazing strides made towards making mental health (particularly men's mental health) less taboo. If you're struggling with something, there's help available. It won't make you any less funny, but it might just help to give you some more time with the ones you love and the ones who love you.