John Candy gives one of his very best performances ever in this touching and funny movie by the great John Hughes. When his brother's wife has an emergency with her parents and they can't find a babysitter they're forced to turn to Candy, a slob and a gambling mess-up with no job. Things start off rough but his heart melts and he may not do things the usual way but he gets the job done and he and the kids all come together and help each other become better people. Nothing in the movie is a big surprise or twist but the kids are great and Candy's performance is hilarious and also so touching.

Uncle Buck is never included many times in a list of good John Hughes films and I think it's because our protagonist is not an adolescent. Uncle Buck is a forty something man who at least is chronolically an adult. He's the kind of footloose character who just won't settle down.It's a crisis at the Russell household as Elaine Bromka's father has a heart attack and she wants to rush to his side. In this emergency the only available baby and house sitter is her husband Garrett Brown's older unmarried brother good old Uncle Buck played by John Candy.The younger two Gaby Hoffman and MacCauley Culkin are happy to have their Uncle Buck there because in many way Candy is not that much more mature than them. His real antagonist is teen Jean Louisa Kelly who is not real happy about a lot starting with the Russell family recent move from Indianapolis to Chicago. In this comedy Candy plays a lovable oaf who does a bit of growing up himself in his babysitting gig. Candy and Kelly are a pair of nasty antagonists and she won't believe him when he says that Jay Underwood who is hot to trot for her lacks character. I mean wouldn't you think so if the character had the nickname of 'Bug'?Candy also gets a chance to reassess his relationship with long time girl friend Amy Madigan. These two have been going out longer than Nathan Detroit and Adelaide.Best scene in the film is when Candy pinch hits for mom at a parent teacher conference with Suzanne Shepherd, a most uptight assistant prinipal. Him telling her off is priceless.One of John Candy's best films, still very funny indeed.

Seriously? They expect a man to uproot his life for weeks, quit his job, and raise three kids he barely knows, and yet somehow they view him as irresponsible. How about the parents who can walk away from their jobs for so long? Did they honestly BOTH need to be gone for so long?

Even after two and a half decades, it is still impossible to grasp the fact that comedy legend John Candy is no longer with us. No longer with us in the physical sense, that is, for in the minds of us all he still lives on strongly as a comedic genius. The hulking, bulky frog faced actor gave pleasure to millions during his life, one of which I was one of the millions. 'Uncle Buck' is my favourite John Candy movie of all time, superbly written and excellently acted. It was brought to life by John Hughes, who had earlier worked with Candy on 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles' and 'The Great Outdoors'. It is also here that both Hughes and Candy worked with future star of Hughes' 1990 blockbuster 'Home Alone'.It stars off like this - Cindy and Bob Russell ( Garett M. Brown and Elaine Bromka ) have moved from Indianapolis to Chicago following promotion at their work, much to the consternation of their eldest daughter, the bitter and resentful Tia ( Jean Louise Kelly ), who was happy with their life in Indianapolis. Their two younger children, Miles ( Macaulay Culkin ) and Maisie ( Gaby Valentini ), also find it difficult to adapt to their new life in Chigaco. One night, Cindy receives a phone call informing her that her father has suffered a heart attack, prompting them to travel back to Indianapolis to tend to him. The problem is, they do not know where to find someone to watch the kids at such short notice. Bob suggests that they try his brother Buck. Cindy pours scorn on the idea, disapproving of his working class roots, but eventually ( though reluctantly ) relents as he is the only person available. Buck, who is in a difficult relationship with his fiery girlfriend Chanice ( gorgeous Amy Madigan ), upon his arrival immediately hits it off with the two younger children however Tia is less than accepting of him, particularly when he comes between her and her lecherous boyfriend.Buck finds himself dealing with a lot of hilarious situations, such as attempting to do the laundry, making giant pancakes for Miles' birthday, cutting Maisie's horrid school mistress down to size for her berating of Maisie, standing up to a drunken clown who almost ruins Miles' birthday party. Despite his scuzzy ways, he is not without some morals and, in some cases, is proved to be more sensible than is given credit for. Tia eventually makes her peace with Buck when she discovers that her boyfriend was two-timing her and, as well as reconciling with Chanice when she was wrongly informed of Buck being unfaithful to her.'Uncle Buck' is by turns funny, touching, believable and poignant. Real chemistry between Candy and the rest of the cast make the film both memorable and entertaining. Sadly, the man's weight problems took him from us in 1994, aged only 43. Amy Madigan is also superb as the impatient Chanice though sexy Jean Louise Kelly is the one who shines most in her time on screen with Candy. Macaulay Culkin is hilarious as Miles and it was performance here that won him the role of Kevin McAllister in 'Home Alone', which would soon make his name and fortune. The scene is which he interrogates Buck about what he does for a living is a golden moment of classic comedy. Gaby Valentini is annoying however as the whining Maisie and I could not take to Elaine Bromka and Garret M. Brown either as the snobbish parents. That really is the only drawback of this otherwise perfect movie. Ira Newborn's wonderful soundtrack also lodges itself in the memory.The following year, a television sitcom based around the character of Buck was made, with Kevin Meaney taking on the lead role. It flopped immediately ( a similar problem that blighted the sitcom adaption of the 'Police Academy' movies ) and to this day has never been screened outside of America. Hardly surprising. After all, trying to follow Candy's act is nigh on impossible.Funniest moment - the altercation between Buck and the drunken, foul mouthed clown!