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Description: "Surrender pronto, or we'll level Toronto!" Writer/director Michael Moore (Roger and Me) serves up a "delightfully ludicrous" (Sight and Sound) political send-up brimming with madcap hilarity and side-splitting slapstick! Starring legendary funnyman John Candy, as well as Rhea Perlman, Alan Alda, Kevin Pollak, Rip Torn and Steven Wright, Canadian Bacon is one "funny, acidic satire" (Variety)! Faced with sagging approval ratings and disgruntled arms manufacturers, the U.S. President (Alda) decides to cook up a new Cold War with Canada! And after a flood ofmedia propaganda, Americans waste no time in "patriotically" burning their ice skates and swearing off maple syrup. But when bumbling U.S. sheriff Boomer (Candy) and his hair-trigger deputy Honey (Perlman) decide to take matters into their own hands and lead a preemptive strike, they soon find themselves embroiled in a hilarious international incident that's too close for comfort, eh!Amazon.com: Fresh from the success of Roger and Me, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore made the mistake of trying his hand at fiction film. Hoping to satirize America's leap into the Gulf War (and its abandonment of its industrial base), he wrote and directed this disappointing comedy, which fell flat despite a cast that included Alan Alda, Rip Torn, Rhea Perlman, John Candy, and Kevin Pollak. The premise is that the president (Alda) is so far down in the polls that he has to create a war to bolster his popularity; he picks a fight with Canada, demonizing the bland denizens of the Great White North to the point that a group of Niagara Falls law-enforcement types (led by Candy in one of his final film roles) decides to invade on their own initiative. There are a couple of funny moments (mostly having to do with the propaganda campaign against Canada), but otherwise, a frozen stiff. --Marshall Fine
Customer Reviews:
- Canadian fun: Ok, here's the full disclosure. I grew up in Michigan, so Canada was a 45 minute drive away. If you spent a lot of time in Canada and the USA then you will get a lot of laughs from this clever comedy. However, if you have not spent too much time in Canada, you may not appreciate/get the jokes as much.
- Wow!: This is clearly a true cultural classic! It is also the only Michael Moore film that I could say that I really liked.
I saw it in elementary school and simply had to watch it again recently!
The best acting roles in the film would have to be: the cop, the mountie, and the American president. There are just so many funny parts, but the confrontation with the mountie, the incident with the cop (Dan Akroiyd), and the hockey fight have to be among the best! Some of the jokes may not be immediately funny to one who is not familiar with the basics of Canadian culture, however.
This is definately worth watching and its quite a clean and appropriate film. Its message definately pokes fun at "American foreign policy" and the "let's find an enemy" attitude. - Much better than I thought: When this movie came out I was turned off by the stupid title and unattractive cast. But when I saw it recently for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised.
It is very funny. The opening voice-over about the presidential motorcade had me laughing uproariously. As a wacky comedy of course it is not weighty, but its political content makes it more serious than I thought. I think those people who say Michael Moore hates America have a point. :-0
- Michael Moore goes Hollywood? What would Roger Smith think?: Actually, as big a jerk as Smith is,
who cares? Moore peaked with 'Roger
and Me' , though the Cheap Trick-
influenced, The Big One and Fahren-
heit 911 are pretty good too. Alda
is perfect in here as the Clinton-
ESQUE clueless (Sorry Alicia!) US
Pres. who's wily Press Sec. Smiley
(Kevin Pollack, Grumpier Old Men,
others) starts a mock war with 'O
Canada' to improve Alda's ratings!
Candy, Dan Ackroyd and others are
great in here in Canadian and
Anti-Canadian roles! Candy's best
performance and unfortunately
his last. R.I.P!
- Propaganda? Maybe...but I liked it: I love John Candy comedy and Alan Alda. I've watched this for a third time just recently and realized that despite the obvious propaganda, it's not all that heavy. The film was a great conversation piece for myself and my friends living in Canada when the movie first came out, so I do have fond memories. If you haven't seen it yet, give it a chance. I think you'll find that though it may not be as funny as other John Candy films, it deserves a spot on the shelf for those who collect Candy (or Michael Moore) movies.
Chrissy K. McVay - Author
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