Review of Only the Lonely

As one of the many innocuous comedies starring John Candy, "Only the Lonely" may not seem like much. But I think that it's looking at something really good. Candy plays a Chicago cop who still lives with his Irish immigrant mother (Maureen O'Hara). One day, he meets a woman (Ally Sheedy) working in a funeral home and develops a relationship with her. However, he always worries that something bad is going to happen to his mother, and this always interferes with his dates. Sooner or later, he will probably have to decide which he will stick with.

I wish to assert that John Candy is being more than his usual silly self in this movie. Part look at relationships and part look at generation gaps, this movie is worth seeing. Of course, it wouldn't be a John Candy movie without some scenes that appear to have been thrown in for pure comic relief. For example, the scene where his mother walks into the police station unannounced; if I'd been that one man, I sure would have been embarrassed! OK, so maybe as someone who's been raised in the US with no immediate relatives from the Emerald Isle, I'm probably not the best person to comment on the relationship between an Irish immigrant and her son. But still, I think that "Only the Lonely" is a pretty good movie.

"She does it with lots of men." Ha!