ONLY THE LONELY (2+ outta 5 stars)
Probably John Candy's best role on film... not an all-out comedy laugh-fest as most would expect... it's actually a kind of sweet, sentimental story (somewhat influenced by the classic film/play "Marty" starring Ernest Borgnine) about an aging bachelor cop (Candy), his overbearing mother (Maureen O'Hara, just as sassy on screen as in her heyday) and the plain, young mortician with whom he falls in love (Ally Sheedy). Yeah, right... Ally Sheedy is "a little plain"... just like she was in "Breakfast Club". Why, oh why so they always have to cast these drop-dead gorgeous movie stars as "plain" people. (Michelle Pfeiffer in "Frankie and Johnny"... anyone buy THAT one?) Anyway, Sheedy and Candy do have a sweet chemistry together... the movie is a very NICE movie... there is a little bit of a dramatic subtext that could have been explored a little deeper... but the film chooses to keep the tone light... maybe *too* light. Several scenes of Candy imagining terrible accidents happening to his mother due to his absence seem a little too "cute-sy"... but I guess they didn't want to freak audiences out by getting too realistic.
Probably John Candy's best role on film... not an all-out comedy laugh-fest as most would expect... it's actually a kind of sweet, sentimental story (somewhat influenced by the classic film/play "Marty" starring Ernest Borgnine) about an aging bachelor cop (Candy), his overbearing mother (Maureen O'Hara, just as sassy on screen as in her heyday) and the plain, young mortician with whom he falls in love (Ally Sheedy). Yeah, right... Ally Sheedy is "a little plain"... just like she was in "Breakfast Club". Why, oh why so they always have to cast these drop-dead gorgeous movie stars as "plain" people. (Michelle Pfeiffer in "Frankie and Johnny"... anyone buy THAT one?) Anyway, Sheedy and Candy do have a sweet chemistry together... the movie is a very NICE movie... there is a little bit of a dramatic subtext that could have been explored a little deeper... but the film chooses to keep the tone light... maybe *too* light. Several scenes of Candy imagining terrible accidents happening to his mother due to his absence seem a little too "cute-sy"... but I guess they didn't want to freak audiences out by getting too realistic.