By skyforbes Growing up John Candy was very much a beloved entertainer in my house and was one of my fathers favorites. Any and all movies/shows were seen, for good reason, the man was a comedic machine. The fact that he was taken from us at an early age felt like you were robbed of something great.
From the moment the doc starts it focuses on his death, first scene is Bill Murray teary eyed talking about his lost friend who has overall a good person in life. If you're watching the documentary you most likely know the sad story of him passing away in his 40s, but this documentary beats you over the head with it.
Dan Ackroyds eulogy over Video of John's funeral is shown next, while very moving it's incredibly somber and leaves you with this feeling of melancholy that the documentary doesn't shake from there on out.
His whole life story is told in stories and vignettes that have the tone of "…. He was amazing and hes dead now"
The man has months of recorded work showing his comedic skills, between movies & TV shows, but these all get generally glossed over. It's not that the documentary is poorly/cheaply made, there are interviews from his close friends (childhood friends, famous ones from SCTV & Hollywood) and family (his children are heavily involved) and many behind the scenes videos from personal collections.
All and all this should be a fantastic documentary about a man who gave it all for comedy, he personally told Conan Obrien "You don't try comedy, you DO comedy" an anecdote that Conan tells as if it was a religious relevation. Perhaps it me, but I didn't get that sense of importance/impact of him in this doc.