Larger-than-life John Candy paired with innovative liberl documentarian Michael Moore might not be what audiences expected. But in 1995, Candy starred in Moore’s one and only fictional film, Canadian Bacon: a satirical look at national identity, American-Canadian relations, and the sheer ludicrousness of war. It’s reminiscent of 1980’s Airplane — silly, daft, yet sharp as a tack.
Where Moore is typically renowned for culturally significant documentaries using journalistic techniques, such as Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine, Canadian Bacon is a scripted narrative with characters. The film features comedic heavyweights Rhea Perlman, Rip Torn, Dan Aykroyd, Alan Alda, Wallace Shawn, and Jim Belushi, among others, with Candy leading the way. Sadly, Canadian Bacon was to be the last film Candy ever completed; he passed away while making Wagons East in 1994.
John Candy Was the King of Kindness Before Canadian Bacon
Canadian Bacon
Release Date June 8, 1995
Director Michael Moore
Cast Alan Alda , John Candy , Rhea Perlman , Kevin Pollak , Rip Torn , Kevin J. O’Connor , Bill Nunn , G. D. Spradlin , Jim Belushi , Steven Wright , Brad Sullivan , Stanley Anderson , Richard Council , Wallace Shawn , Michael Copeman , Beth Amos , Bruce Hunter , Jack Mather , Kenner Ames , Roger Dunn , Natalie Rose , Matt Cook , Barbara Schroeder , Tara Meyer , Fab Filippo
Runtime 91 minutes
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John Candy suffered from extreme anxiety yet managed to smash comedy roles in the late ’80s with his vulnerable and lovable style. In 1987’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles, he played Del Griffith, a character who infuriates his accidental travel companion Neal Page (Steve Martin). But Candy’s ability to apply a childlike innocence to Del ultimately wins Neal over.
There’s more travel-based narrative in one of the most famous Christmas movies ever made, Home Alone. Again, Candy allows kindness to shine through even in a surprisingly small role, as he plays Good Samaritan Gus Polinski, transporting Kate McCalister (Catherine O’Hara’) home to her son. That wasn’t the only John Hughes film Candy was involved in, with Uncle Buck remaining a sweet audience favorite.
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Preceding Canadian Bacon in 1993, Candy played Irv Blitzer, coach of the first Jamaican bobsleigh team, in Cool Runnings. And much like Candy’s other key parts, Blitzer is authentically good-natured and doesn’t try to mask his flaws. At the point of Canadian Bacon, where he plays Sheriff Bud Boomer, Candy had mastered his craft and was renowned for his relatable comedic roles.
Michael Moore Ventures Into Fictional Filmmaking
Universal Pictures
Director Michael Moore isn’t afraid of controversy. He probes sociopolitical issues with an angry sense of social injustice, and his topics are bold as a result: health care, gun control, capitalism, terrorism. Although Moore has journalistic tendencies, some claim his work is biased towards his own liberal beliefs about America. That said, his storytelling ability, like Candy’s acting, makes the documentaries he’s created feel compassionate and captivating, wherever people’s allegiances lean.
In 1989, Moore released his first documentary, Rodger and Me, looking at the economic decline in Flint, Michigan, following the closure of several General Motors plants, leaving lives devastated by mass job loss. Canadian Bacon followed not long after, drawing parallels to Rodger and Me with the story of Hacker Dynamics, a weapons manufacturing factory that closes down, leaving many unemployed.
In 2014, Moore told Indiwire, “Why is it that the American audience says, I love nonfiction books and I love nonfiction TV — but there’s no way you’re dragging me into a nonfiction movie!” Maybe Canadian Bacon was his way of sharing his truths through film in a more accessible manner.
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What’s Canadian Bacon All About, Eh?
When R. J Hacker (G. D. Spradlin) shuts his factory in Niagra Falls, he blames the American President (Alan Alda), whose ratings take a nose dive. To boost them, the president’s advisor, Stu Smiley (Kevin Pollak), sees an opportunity to create a fictional war threat after a fight between Bud Boomer and Canadian ice hockey fans. American TV channels start spouting anti-Canadian propaganda, spurring Boomer and his pals to litter on Canadian land. Boomer’s wife, live wire Honey (Rhea Perlman), is left behind, prompting Boomer and his sidekicks to rescue her.
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Hacker creates a program, Hacker Hellstorm, that can launch missiles, fueled by a sense of injustice. The president discovers the signals, aimed at Moscow, are coming from Canada. Desperate to salvage his reputation, he learns Hacker can sell him a program to halt the launch for one trillion dollars. Smiley realizes Hacker is the one controlling the missiles and accidentally kills him while trying to steal the launch codes. Thinking he’s a criminal mastermind, the president orders Smiley’s arrest.
The clock ticks down as Honey escapes from her captors. Finding the computer that controls the missiles, she obliterates it with a machine gun just in the nick of time. Boomer and his search party finds Honey, and their comedic misadventure culminates in a safe return to America.
The Messaging and Legacy of Canadian Bacon
Gramercy Pictures
Canadian Bacon pokes fun at Canadian and American culture and stereotypes, portraying the Canadians as overly polite and too softly natured and Americans as ignorant with poor geographical knowledge beyond their own borders. It also shows how natives can become blinded by patriotism, being incredibly hostile, even xenophobic, to a perceived foreign threat. Politically, the film depicts the corruption of the government and how they can manipulate public fears using the media for their own gain.
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Widely, the film was a flop, with in-jokes that others not from America or Canada might not comprehend fully. But for some fans, it’s their go-to for a good chuckle. Steve Drice reviews, “Canadian Bacon is not a piece of fine art, but it is an amazingly fun and amusing satire of American (and Canadian!) life from the 90s.” With nearly 30 years having passed, it now seems Candy and Moore did a sterling job, with Canadian Bacon reaching cult status, spawning a wave of nostalgia. Canadian Bacon is available to stream for free on Tubi and Pluto TV, and on YouTube through the link below:
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