Welcome to the list, John Hughes.
The man wrote a mountain of movies, one of which is still to come on the countdown.
However, he only directed 8 movies in his career.
That said, he was probably "THE" Director for 80s movies that helped define our generation growing up:
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
That's the Holy Trinity of 80s High School Films if you think about it. Add Weird Science in there, and half of his resume consists of life in school.
The remaining movies are all pretty good, but Uncle Buck is my favorite of his directorial work.
For those that haven't seen it, here goes:
The Russell family is dysfunctional at best. When the wife's father has a heart attack, the parents need to leave for an undisclosed amount of time, but who will watch over their 3 children?
For an inconvenience like that, you have to call family. Cue: Uncle Buck!
Buck makes underachieving an art form. But perhaps some time together with the kids can change both the children and Buck into better people.
It is, after all, a film written by John Hughes. You know a happy ending is on the way, but it won't be easy getting there.
We saw this one in 1989 when it was released in theaters. In fact, my honey and I were the only ones in the theater when it came out.
You know the movie has to be pretty good when a teenage boy is alone in a theater with a girl, and actually watches the movie.
: )
Nearly 25 years later, we're still watching it, and now sharing it with our kids.
Scripted by Hughes, you know it's oft-quoted in our house when a situation arises that's worthy of Uncle Buck.
Heck, anytime we see a "smoking car" driving down the road, someone will shout out "there goes Uncle Buck".
More fun than "Slug Bug!" I tell you!
John Hughes writing alone though cannot sell a movie unless he's got a great actor in the lead role. In John Candy, he found Uncle Buck and gave him the role of a lifetime. Sure, he's a bit of an underachiever, but he really means well. He's nice as can be, but don't cross him (or his family) or watch out!
It was the first acting roles for the kids in the house as Gaby Hoffman (Maisy) who has already been on the Countdown (Field of Dreams) and Jean Louisa Kelly (Tia) as Buck's arch-nemesis who was also in Mr. Holland's Opus.
Plus, while not the first role for him, I would say that this is the movie that was a breakout for Macaulay Culkin. He of course would move on to huge success with the Home Alone franchise, but here he was cute as a button playing opposite John Candy.
If you haven't seen it (or it's been a few years) move it up your queue and enjoy!
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