Uncle Buck

Uncle Buck casts John Candy as the title character, an irresponsible yet loveable ne’er-do-well who is asked to care for his brother’s three kids (Jean Louisa Kelly’s Tia, Macaulay Culkin’s Miles, and Gaby Hoffman’s Maizy) for a few days – with the film subsequently detailing Buck’s irreverent attempts at keeping the trio in line. Filmmaker John Hughes certainly does a superb job of initially establishing the off-kilter situation and the sharply-drawn characters, with Candy’s thoroughly engaging and ingratiating work going a long way towards immediately capturing the viewer’s interest. There’s subsequently little doubt that the movie’s plotless vibe is, at the outset, not problematic in the slightest, and Hughes’ ongoing emphasis on Buck’s episodic exploits – eg he takes the kids out for a night of bowling, he meets with Maizy’s stern principal, etc – proves instrumental in cultivating and perpetuating the film’s breezy, affable atmosphere. It’s only as Uncle Buck passes the one-hour mark that it begins to fizzle out to a minor degree, as Hughes’ meandering modus operandi becomes increasingly difficult to overlook – with the underwhelming nature of Buck and Tia’s ongoing battle of wills exacerbating the movie’s less-than-engrossing feel (ie Tia simply isn’t as compelling a sullen female protagonist as, say, Jeanie from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). Still, Uncle Buck is, for the most part, an agreeable comedy that benefits substantially from Hughes’ undeniable gift for seamlessly blending laughs with drama.

**1/2 out of ****