Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Blistering performances.

I loved this movie. I laughed through the entire thing. Candy played a lovable Idiot Savant with the best of them. I have watched it 5 or 6 times since it came out. Still laugh. This isn't Shakespeare, but silly well written and well acted fun. The interplay, and evolving friendship, between Shawnee Smith and Candy was funny and sweet. Annie Potts was perfect as well. As my other reviews, I am too ADHD to write a real review. If you are a John Candy fan this should not be missed. If you are not, give it a try anyway.

I went into this movie expecting nothing but a decent flick at best. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. For starters, John Candy is one of my favorite actors of all time, he is hilarious, and every time I see him in any movie, I can't help but laugh. Candy plays the jester Harry Crumb, the final kin of a family of amazing detectives. Candy enters the role, and doesn't leave it once as the lead actor, he brings Crumb to life. Jeffrey Jones has a great outing as the Villain, Elliot Draisen. It wasn't an outstanding job by Jones, but good enough to keep the story rolling. Annie Potts makes a great Helen Downing. In conclusion, the storyline of the movie kept me interested and laughing throughout: 7/10. The acting was solid by many of the supporters, and headed by a great outing from Candy: 7.5/10, and the movie accomplished what it set out to do: 7/10. Overall: 7/10

I love (John Candy). However I hate seeing him in something less than his capacities. This movie is one. It seems like they did it in 2 weeks. The plot is simple with one kidnapping, and the comedy is even simpler with farce along the talking scenes, and little clowning sequences as well. (Candy) suffers from being in his fattest conditions. The many disguises of him weren't close to funny. Some of the jokes were pure pathetic. And save the first sequence, the action comedy didn't dazzle or make laughs.Nevertheless, it's watchable and light. (Shawnee Smith) is so cute as the she-sidekick. Although (Smith) went later to TV, establishing herself successfully as the "dumb beautiful girl", but I feel sad that she missed the opportunity of doing other lead roles in more comedy movies or even rom-coms. The supporting roles are played by good actors. I adore the soundtrack; having a true piece of the 80s's best soft music and songs (the intro music is on the top). The pace moves nicely without any slacking along the way. In fact, the feel of slacking comes from your feeling that you have seen all of that before and maybe better.After (Trail of the Pink Panther – 1982), then (Curse of the Pink Panther – 1983), the series stopped due to (Peter Sellers)'s death, added to the outrageous flop that (Curse..) was, with the new Panther (Ted Wass). So in the 10 years gab between (Curse..) and the late sequel (Son of the Pink Panther – 1993), the dumb detective's role was used once more and filled this time by (John Candy). If you asked yourself how would it be if (Insp. Clouseau) became a private eye, working under the authority of decayed (Chief Insp. Dreyfus) ? (Who's Harry Crumb) is a good answer. As a comedy, it lacks the human touch that distinguished other Candy's works like (Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Uncle Buck,..). And even as a farcical cartoon, it's pretty old stuff. Anyway, to judge fairly; this is funny time. But not so funny !

Who's Harry Crumb? is set in Los Angeles where Jennifer Downing (Renée Coleman) is kidnapped while have a mud massage, her rich father P.J. Downing (Barry Corbin) turns to the Crumb & Crumb detective agency where President Eliot Draisen (Jeffrey Jones) decides to put the inept son of the founder of the agency Harry Crumb (John Candy). Harry gets to work & meets the Downing family & any potential suspects, with an adulterous wife who hates Jennifer & her boyfriend who wants to kill P.J. along with trying to find the kidnappers Harry has his work cut out. Using various disguises & his well toned detective skills Harry Crumb tries to solve the case & save Jennifer...Directed by Paul Flaherty this likable comedy starring the late John Candy is one of those films that you may have seen in the eighties & then not watched it again in years & while it inevitably doesn't quite seem as funny as the first time around there's still a fair bit here to enjoy & laugh along with. The whole film is basically a fun example of the bumbling detective genre that include the likes of The Pink Panther (1963, 2006), Inspector Gadget & more recently the Austin Powers films that all feature some inept bumbling detective/cop/spy who comes up against some bad guy's & through luck, chance or a minor miracle manages to solve the case & save the day. While not hysterically funny there are laughs to be had here & the whole film is played in such a way that you just end up liking it, Candy is just great as Harry Crumb who gets some very funny moments of physical comedy as well as some baffling, silly & amusing one-liners. The supporting character's are fun too, from the villain to the kidnapped daughter to her sister who ends up helping & assisting Crumb to a nympho wife who just wants to be rich to a female cop who hates private detective's. The plot is simple, the identity of the kidnappers are given away early on so it's all played for laughs from then on as the cool collected villains face up to the bumbling idiotic Crumb is some nice scenes. At just under 100 minutes it didn't feel that long, there's a steady stream of gags, funny disguises & disasters of Crumb's own making to make the time pass harmlessly enough.The whole film has a very 80's vibe going on from the fashions to the music to the cars & decor. It looks nice enough but there's not much going on apart from a scene in which Crumb drives a car without brakes & a climax set at an airport where Crumb chases a plane while riding a truck. There's no real violence although there is one use of the 'F' word that was cut from all UK version until the 2008 DVD. While not deep or serious I don't really think it was ever meant to be & as a simple light hearted comedy about a bumbling detective I thought it was good & it made me laugh a few times & I did have a good feeling while watching it so it must have done something right.Not a huge box-office success this was filmed mainly in British Columbia in Canada. The acting is good from a very game cast of well known actor's with Candy himself as the stand-out, Shawnee Smith (before the Saw films) is cute & likable as his sidekick while Jeffrey Jones, Annie Potts & Tim Thomerson give decent comic performances.Who's Harry Crumb? is not a masterpiece by any means but as a straight forward crime comedy full of gags, one-liners, puns, likable character's & performances, silly outfits & one or two action scenes then I thought it was pretty good & better than average if not a classic. It's a comedy & I laughed at it, that just about says it all really.