JOHN CANDY: I LIKE ME (2025) review
produced by: Colin Hanks, Johnny Pariseau, George Dewey, Shane Reid, Ryan Reynolds, Sean Stuart & Glen Zipper
directed by: Colin Hanks
rated: PG-13 (for smoking, some strong language, drug material and suggestive material)
runtime: 113 min.
U.S. release date: October 10, 2025 (Prime)
During the cold open of the documentary “John Candy: I Like Me”, Bill Murray fondly reflects on his dear friend and frequent costar, stating with a dry chuckle, “I wish I had some bad things to say about him.” That would indeed be a surprise to viewers, as well as the friends and family of the late Canadian actor/comedian, but what director Colin Hanks does is reinforce something that many of us already know: the gregarious talent was as kind and generous as he was sensitive and gentle. Sure, some people may have already had that idea, and those are the ones who grew up watching him in movies and on television. However, considering he died 31 years ago, it’s safe to say that there are generations out there who have missed out on his special, charismatic screen presence. Hanks has created an engaging and emotional tribute to Candy, inviting those who loved him a chance to share their memories of him and the impact he had on them.
“I Like Me” isn’t pure hagiographic, as it touches on the complexities of Candy, someone who managed to make his dream of performing come true, while also dealing with grief, insecurities, and anxiety. If anything, such revelations make a man who already felt like a loyal friend even more relatable. When there’s no “darker side” revealed in these documentaries, critics bemoan dishonesty. Sometimes that’s warranted, but there’s no problem with remembering that here was a good guy who was a lot more like us than we knew.
The film opens in 1994, where we see a large crowd gathered together at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Brentwood, Los Angeles, for Candy’s funeral service. The video footage of the event included shows this wasn’t a parade of celebrities showing up for their colleague, who died alone at age 43 in a hotel room near the set of one of his last movies, “Wagons East”. Friends and family have gathered to bid farewell to someone they loved dearly. Candy’s longtime friend, Dan Aykroyd, can be heard delivering the eulogy in a voiceover, with fondness, stating his friend’s accomplishments, interests, and character. In closing, Aykroyd uses a word that he admits is seldom used to describe others, but is nevertheless appropriate: Grand.
After showing snippets of the funeral, Hanks dials back the clock, offering a glimpse at Candy’s origin. We learn that Candy grew up in a working-class family in Toronto and his father died at age 35 due to complications from heart disease, leaving behind 5-year-old John, his older brother, James, and their mother, Evangeline “Van”. We hear from Candy’s widow, Rosemary Hobor, and their two adult children, Christopher Candy and Jennider Candy-Sullivan, throughout the documentary, all of whom share how John was definitely altered by his huge loss at such a long age, which would inevitably spark an obsession with mortality, thinking his life would also end at a relatively young age.
Despite that tragedy, Candy grew up in a relatively normal environment in the 1960s, surrounded by friends, family members, and teachers who would encourage him. During his teen years, he developed a passion for music, collecting a wide range of vinyl and picking up the drums. At the same time, he developed a voracious love for movies and comedy, which further refined his tastes. “I Like Me” includes some unexpected moments from Candy’s past, such as his high school football experience, which he would’ve pursued professionally if not for a blown knee, and how that injury prevented him from being accepted into the U.S. Army to fight in Vietnam. We hear from his peers, many of whom knew Candy as a teenager, who reflect on what kind of person he was back then, including how he used to work in the sporting goods section of a popular Canadian department store, where he met his wife, who also worked there.
As his relationship with Van developed, he had the opportunity to continue working in retail, which would provide a reliable and steady income, or focus on his passion for acting and comedy. Knowing where his heart was, Van encouraged him to seek out performing. Candy landed a children’s theater gig in the 70s, which is where he first met Aykroyd, and eventually the two wound up at Second City, first in Toronto and then in Chicago. The two of them met Murray there as well, focusing on their improv comedy skills and developing friendships with fellow performers who shared their like-minded interests. Hanks includes clips of current interviews with Candy’s colleagues who came up during this time, such as Martin Short, Dave Thomas, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, and Andrea Martin, many commenting on his liveliness and generosity as a performer, as well as delightful footage from the years they worked together in the late 70s.
This is also around the time when Candy earned the nickname “Johnny Toronto”, based on the exaggerated fun-loving, swinging Canadian persona he came up with. Hanks includes some great “SCTV” footage, a hilarious Canadian comedy ensemble television show featuring talent from Second City Toronto, as well as footage with two talents no longer with us, Harold Ramis and Joe Flaherty. SCTV featured material that was too weird or darkly comic for the likes of SNL, and therefore provided an alternative that developed into a cult classic status. The actors would collaborate and develop some comical original characters, and Candy created his vain variety show star, Johnny La Rue.
Hanks balances Candy’s career ascent with what was happening in his personal life at the time as well. This includes his marriage to Rose, the couple having two children, and purchasing a farm outside of Toronto, a place where they could preserve a semblance of an everyday family life. Death remained a phantom during this time for Candy, as he watched his brother overcome a scary heart attack while basically ignoring his own health concerns that were impacting his weight, self-medicating with food, drinking, and smoking. “I Like Me” includes segments from talk show appearances with Candy, in which interviewers would mention his weight and sometimes openly mock his appearance. On the outside, Candy took it in stride, too kind to push back on such abuse. But, internally, he was deeply affected, and only those close to him truly knew this. So many people unfairly associated his size with his talent and success, and despite numerous attempts to control his weight, his anxiety and panic attacks would eventually weigh the heaviest in his life.
When “I Like Me” focuses on Candy’s film career, it really takes off and will remind (or enlighten) viewers just what a fantastic career he had. He was hand-picked by Steven Spielberg for “1941”, which he starred in alongside John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. However, it was his role in several ’80s comedies that made him a hit with many viewers. He had memorable supporting roles in Ivan Reitman’s “Stripes” with Bill Murray, and in Harold Ramis’ “National Lampoon’s Vacation”, but it was his breakout role as Freddie Bauer in 1984’s “Splash”, where his comedic chops got to shine next to Tom Hanks. During this decade, he would star in some flops, but it was never his fault since it was clear he was giving his all in these endeavors. Writer/director John Hughes knew precisely where to place Candy in his movies, whether it was in minor roles that would become quite memorable. Two roles written and directed by Hughes would go on to become classic Candy movies: Del Griffith in 1987’s “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” (Hughes’ best film), opposite Steve Martin, and 1989’s “Uncle Buck”, in which he played the titular role opposite a young Macaulay Culkin. Both roles offered more for Candy than the “fat funny guy” material he was getting, providing opportunities for the actor to imbue a surprising amount of heart and humanity that would make them a fan favorite. Both of the aforementioned costars from these movies appear here and offer some touching memories of Candy.
It’s a shame that “I Like Me” doesn’t really delve into the roles that Candy took in a couple of 1991 movies, which indicated a departure for the actor and potential for what the future could bring for him. He played the lead in the Chicago-based “Only the Lonely,” a rom-com written and directed by Chris Columbus, which co-starred Ally Sheedy, Maureen O’Hara, and Jim Belushi. It was a part that showed the audience what else Candy was capable of. Then Candy almost disappeared into a bit part as Louisiana attorney Dean Andrews Jr. in Oliver Stone’s “JFK”, which surprised many viewers and hinted at what the future could hold for him coming out of the ’80s. Obviously, every single role couldn’t be covered in this documentary, but these two were out-of-pocket parts at the time for Candy.
Focusing on Candy’s activities in the early 90s provides insight into how his busy schedule and distractions contributed to a gradual increase in his anxieties and insecurities. Hanks includes Candy’s brief stint as the owner of the Toronto Argonauts, a Canadian football team, yet barely mentions his lead role in the sports comedy “Cool Runnings”, which was quite successful for its time. As it leads up to his 1994 death, much of the focus is on what a bearded Candy, now larger than ever, was like on the set of the Western “Wagons East”, one of his final roles, released posthumously in 1994.
Like the recent documentaries on Christopher Reeve and Fred Rogers, “John Candy: I Like Me” doesn’t delve into the darker aspects of its subject, but that’s mainly because Candy was an all-around likable guy who was as generous and kind as he was hilarious and talented. It’s impressive, but not surprising, to see the number of talking heads guests Hanks got involved in this project – even 99-year-old Mel Brooks (who directed Candy in 1987’s “Spaceballs”) is here – but it obviously wasn’t hard to secure his dad to chime in. There were moments when I laughed heartily while watching, and other times when I teared up. In the end, I realized that I can easily place Candy right alongside the late, great Robin Williams, as someone who left us too soon and is immensely missed.
RATING: ***1/2
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