Uncle Buck (1989)
March 11, 2025 11:53 AM - Subscribe
[TRAILER] Buck Russell (John Candy), a lovable but slovenly bachelor, suddenly becomes the temporary caretaker of his nieces (Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby Hoffmann) and nephew (Macaulay Culkin) after a family emergency. His freewheeling attitude soon causes tension with his older niece Tia, loyal girlfriend Chanice (Amy Madigan) and just about everyone else who crosses his path.
Also starring: Elaine Bromka, Garrett M. Brown, Laurie Metcalf, Jay Underwood, Anna Chlumsky.
Written and directed by John Hughes. Produced by John Hughes, Tom Jacobson. Cinematography by Ralf D. Bode. Edited by Lou Lombardo, Tony Lombardo, Peck Prior. Music by Ira Newborn.
59% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently streaming in the US on Starz. Find streaming options for your favorite services in your region via JustWatch.
Also starring: Elaine Bromka, Garrett M. Brown, Laurie Metcalf, Jay Underwood, Anna Chlumsky.
Written and directed by John Hughes. Produced by John Hughes, Tom Jacobson. Cinematography by Ralf D. Bode. Edited by Lou Lombardo, Tony Lombardo, Peck Prior. Music by Ira Newborn.
59% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently streaming in the US on Starz. Find streaming options for your favorite services in your region via JustWatch.
Gnat, bug….🤔
posted by funkaspuck at 12:29 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
posted by funkaspuck at 12:29 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
Laurie Metcalf's neighbor character is so funny. The teenage looks that Tia gives are eerily accurate, too. I don't really buy her boyfriend as a bad boy, though.
Can someone explain this joke to me: Candy is making breakfast and Culkin says to one of his sisters, "He is cooking our garbage!"
posted by soelo at 1:42 PM on March 11
Can someone explain this joke to me: Candy is making breakfast and Culkin says to one of his sisters, "He is cooking our garbage!"
posted by soelo at 1:42 PM on March 11
He is cooking our garbage!
Watching the scene, it looks like Candy is making a hash with veggies, eggs and potatoes. Given the evening meal earlier in the film featured the family eating takeout Chinese, I think the idea is despite the fancy kitchen, he’s never seen his mom actually cook.
posted by funkaspuck at 2:48 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Watching the scene, it looks like Candy is making a hash with veggies, eggs and potatoes. Given the evening meal earlier in the film featured the family eating takeout Chinese, I think the idea is despite the fancy kitchen, he’s never seen his mom actually cook.
posted by funkaspuck at 2:48 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
I've always liked this movie. The kids act like kids. The side characters are interesting. The guy with the toothpick is a great physical comedian. John Candy rules.
Buck is out of touch enough to be realistic, but also a bit of a mess himself, so he's relatable.
John Candy is great.
I know the bit with the principal is not particularly kind, but having been through real versions of that conversation that's exactly what one wishes one could say. I think he could have done without the jabs about the principal's looks, but hey that was the 1980s.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:57 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Buck is out of touch enough to be realistic, but also a bit of a mess himself, so he's relatable.
John Candy is great.
I know the bit with the principal is not particularly kind, but having been through real versions of that conversation that's exactly what one wishes one could say. I think he could have done without the jabs about the principal's looks, but hey that was the 1980s.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:57 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
I think this film is largely saved by John Candy's endearing personality and the fact that John Hughes social conservatism isn't as over the top in this one. Here it is mostly in the "Boomer nostalgia" mode which isn't as irritating. All his films have an antiquated American family values theme which, even in the 80s, I personally found very alienating - but I'm not American so maybe it is just sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I recall at the time people made a lot of the use of the expression "it sucks" at one point by Culkin and that became a huge talking point in the discourse. Which was funny for us as we (and our parents) all used far worse. We all thought that Suburban American Life portrayed here looked like something out of a cereal commercial.
The kids act like kids.
We know very different kids.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:57 AM on March 12
The kids act like kids.
We know very different kids.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:57 AM on March 12
I recall at the time people made a lot of the use of the expression "it sucks" at one point by Culkin and that became a huge talking point in the discourse. Which was funny for us as we (and our parents) all used far worse.
Young children swearing in the presence of adults in the US is generally pretty rare, and the farther you go back in time the more rare it gets. Parents generally swearing regularly in front of kids is certainly not universal if not actually rare, and the movie emphasized that when kids do hear it, they latch on to it. They probably wanted to hold on to a certain movie rating, so they didn't go harder.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:36 PM on March 12
Young children swearing in the presence of adults in the US is generally pretty rare, and the farther you go back in time the more rare it gets. Parents generally swearing regularly in front of kids is certainly not universal if not actually rare, and the movie emphasized that when kids do hear it, they latch on to it. They probably wanted to hold on to a certain movie rating, so they didn't go harder.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:36 PM on March 12
Also ‘X sucks’ connoted sucking dick, a la ‘disco sucks’.
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 5:23 AM on March 13
posted by MisantropicPainforest at 5:23 AM on March 13
Another of the middling John Candy vehicles that is praised far above its modest merits.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:40 PM on March 13
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:40 PM on March 13
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One thing that is unambiguously solid here is Jean Louisa Kelly's Tia, who might be the ultimate diffident suburban asshole teenager ever committed to film. She's not the worst kid, by any means, so much as she is awful in such a classic, perfectly recognizable way. She has a pretty good life in a pretty nice house with a pretty nice family, she's attractive, has friends, and seems to have nothing in particular to complain about, but she's so in love with her own newly discovered sense of self that it is unfathomable to her that an adult could have any anything useful to say to her about anything. The connection she makes with Buck, pretty much against every fiber of her being, is what grounds this film and makes it tolerable and even winning in a few places.
Some of the silliest bits go to young Culkin, but he's so effortlessly adorable an onscreen presence, you can see why Hughes gave him the star turn in Home Alone.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:56 AM on March 11 [8 favorites]