Uncle Buck (1989)

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Blistering performances.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

There are many movies that I can Line by line repeat the scenes from, but not many as joyous as uncle buck.

Seriously? They expect a man to uproot his life for weeks, quit his job, and raise three kids he barely knows, and yet somehow they view him as irresponsible. How about the parents who can walk away from their jobs for so long? Did they honestly BOTH need to be gone for so long?

This is basically a reversed 'Home Alone', where instead of parents leave kid home alone and villains try to break in and chaos ensues, it's parents leave kids home alone and good guy uncle steps in and chaos ensues.The formula was always going to work, the family values, relatable characters from the youngest toddler to the grownup teen, her annoying boyfriend, the big old annoyingly happy uncle... but they had to give it that little bit of extra flavor and they at least somewhat managed that. Some of the scenes are genuinely funny, and one couldn't say the humor is completely lazy. They also do well at creating a good uncle/niece-nephew relationship and therefor do what they set out to do.All in all it's certainly a forgettable late 80's mainstream comedy, but John Candy does well, it somewhat introduces Macauly Culkin to the public (who would go on to star in 'Home Alone' a year later by the same writer) and beautiful Jean Louisa Kelly who plays 'Tia' in the film holds her role very well, which isn't always easy.

Uncle Buck is another highlight on John Hughe's film reel. It's a screwball comedy that is safe for the family, but luckily has many laughs to go along with that statement. John Candy is a comedian that died before his time, but thankfully he was able to make this movie as this is one of his best roles. The movie has a sweet message and it shows that even the slob of an uncle can show love. John Hughes's film is about a man named Buck who has a very lazy life and has a girlfriend who is very disapproving. After a tragedy occurs, Uncle Buck is called to his brother's house where he is tasked to look after the three children: two younger ones and a rebellious teenager. Uncle Buck must prove that he is up to the task. I think the film has some pretty good acting. John Candy is at his best in the lead role. Always the sweet guy and it is not hard to root for him despite his clumsiness. Amy Madigan was pretty good at playing the angry girlfriend. Before Macaulay Culkin became known for Home Alone, he was good in this role as one of the young children. Overall, Uncle Buck is a very sweet comedy. Perhaps it's too sweet for its own good, but this is a great bet if you want to watch a movie with the family. It's funny, but its not vulgar. I do like those sort of comedies, but when I want something safe and pleasant, I now I can count on the talents of John Hughes and John Candy. My Grade: A-