John Candy blazed brightly but briefly, his brilliant career as an actor and comedian cut short by his early death. Oh, but what a life it was, as Colin Hanks vividly demonstrates in this insightful documentary. In a way, it is a gathering of Candy’s tribes: his family; childhood friends; castmates from his early days at Toronto’s Second City and later SCTV, among them Bill Murray, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, and Dave Thomas; and movie costars, including Steve Martin, Don Lake, Macauley Culkin (with some of the most moving observations in the film), and Tom Hanks. Candy himself is part of the tapestry, discussing his life in interviews throughout the years. Embroidered throughout are clips from Candy’s work, hilarious testaments to his enormous talent. What emerges is the portrait of a complex man, successful in his job end even more so in life: This is a man who was deeply loved. —Pam Grady
Colin Hanks
A prolific actor, Sacramento native Colin Hanks forged a secondary career path as a documentary director with his short film The Anti-Mascot (2014), commemorating the San Francisco Giants’ legendary Crazy Crab. He made his feature debut with All Things Must Pass (2015), a history of Tower Records. John Candy: I Like Meis his second feature.
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