"Do I have an Uncle?"

 



In one of John Hughes’ finest family films “Uncle Buck” he explores the relationship between Buck Russell (John Candy) and his estranged brother’s family. After Cindy Russell’s father has a heart attack she and her husband Bob (Buck’s brother) are frantically searching for someone to watch the kids. Since they have recently moved from Minneapolis to a Chicago suburb (a Hughes trademark) they have limited options. Conveniently Buck lives in Chicago, yet Cindy is less than thrilled to have him in charge of the children.
Buck arrives in the middle of the night and when the children awake to find their parents gone, and an Uncle they’ve never met in charge of their care they are slightly shocked. Buck is a bachelor, relies on horse races and gambling for his income, and has little or no domestic or child rearing skills. However he quickly wins the hearts of Miles (Macaulay Culkin) and Maizy (Gabby Hoffmann.) Tia the Russell’s 15-year-old daughter however is a bit harder to break through to. There are a lot of funny scenes with Buck and the two youngest children, however the real important relationship is between Buck and Tia.


Angry that her family moved and her mother seems to choose her carrier over the family she is very cold and rebellious. Buck and Tia are constantly at odds with each other. Eventually Buck is on the way to bring Tia home from a “cheerleader slumber party” she snuck out to, when he finds her walking alone because her boyfriend “Bug” has tried to rape her.
Buck and Tia bond and teach, “Bug” a lesson, they also teach eachother how important family is and that the biggest family charity case can be your closest ally. This is an unconventional family film, because it is not the perfect family on the outside. Candy’s portrayal of Uncle Buck makes him impossible not to love. In one scene he toys with the idea of taking Miles and Maizy to cheat on a horse race.
I recommend this film to anyone that is a fan of John Candy or Hughes films, it is filled with hilarious moments and happy endings, the way a family comedy should be.

 

 
// posted by DMurphy

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Uncle Buck is one of those quintessential 80’s movies of everyone’s childhood that they love and adore and still love to watch today. And like most quintessential 80’s movies, one that I missed out on. (Just in case you’re wondering: I also missed out on Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, didn’t see Ferris Buellers’ Day Off until I was at least 16, and have yet to see any of the StarWars, Jaws, or Rambo movies.) The film’s been referenced to so often in my life (my dad goes by Buck… don’t ask) that I finally decided to see it. The fact that John Candy and Macaulay Culkin (pre-early marriage and nasty divorce, and as it would have it pre-Home Alone as well… that I did see) both star in the film definitely doesn’t hurt it. John Candy plays a sleazy bachelor who is called upon by his brother to watch his nieces and nephew after his sister-in-law’s father has a heart attack. The youngster kids immediately take to his “charm,” but the older, more rebellious Tia played by Jean Louisa Kelly takes a while to warm up to him, especially when drama ensues as Uncle Buck immediately recognizes that her boyfriend, Bug, is also a sleazeball and only using her for sex. By the end of the movie, Uncle Buck has won Tia’s heart, saved her from a bad relationships, and even helped her and her mother’s relationship. All in all, the movie was good, but a classic? Maybe after I watch it enough to start quoting it like everyone else.

// posted by .pattie.