Wagons East (1994) * (out of 4)A group of settlers who headed West for a better life soon realize that it's not what they thought so they want to head back East. They hire James Harlow (John Candy) to take them back but they soon realize that they might have picked the wrong man.I still remember walking into the theater when WAGON'S EAST opened. You knew walking in that Candy had just recently passed and you knew that you were watching what would be his final picture. I don't think anyone could have expected to see how bad this movie actually was but thankfully for Candy, the greatness throughout his career is what people remember and not this final film.This is a really bad movie and I've seen where Candy didn't want to make it and I believe this because the screenplay is really awful. There's really nothing funny that happens here and the screenplay is so bad you really do wonder why anyone would have wanted to make the film. The majoirty of the running time has Candy acting drunk, falling over and doing various dumb things but none of it is funny.It's really too bad that Candy finished his career with this movie but it should be stated that a lot of legends end their careers with such movies. WAGON'S EAST really doesn't work on any level so it's probably best that it has been forgotten.

RELEASED IN 1994 and directed by Peter Markle, "Wagons East" details events when a dozen settlers in the remote Southwest town of Prosperity give up on the West and hire a drunken wagon master (John Candy) to lead them back East. Later, some Sioux tribespeople decide to assist them, hoping it will become a trend. Meanwhile, a dastardly villain (Edward Matthew Lauter) is hired by a railroad mogul to stop the small wagon train à la Wile E. Coyote in The Road Runner.If you like comedy Westerns like "Texas Across the River" (1966) and "The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox" (1976), you should like this one as well. It mixes laugh-out-loud scenes with quietly amusing ones. I think it's superior to the overrated "Cat Ballou" (1965) and even better than the heralded "Blazing Saddles" (1974). It's not intentionally offensive like the latter, although there's a little black humor. In some ways it's kinda cute and heartwarming (e.g. the relationship between the big guy and the former prostitute). The locations are spectacular. There are several familiar faces in the cast who were popular around that time, e.g. Richard Lewis, John C. McGinley, Robert Picardo, Ellen Greene, Melinda Culea, William Sanderson, Rodney A. Grant and Russell Means. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour & 47 minutes and was shot in Condado De Chavez & Sierra de Organos, Mexico. WRITERS: Matthew Carlson (screenplay) & Jerry Abrahamson (story). GRADE: B

After a series of tragedies in the old west, a group of settlers decide they've had enough and want to return east. So they hire a drunken wagon master (John Candy) to guide them. But the wagon master has a dark past... and the government will stop at nothing to make sure this crew never reaches St. Louis.I want to lay it on the line and say this is John Candy's best film, or at least very close. I always disliked him as the bumbling, annoying fool. I have never been a fan of his films. But I actually enjoyed this one and it was definitely Candy that helped make it happen. Too bad it had to be a western. With both Candy and Chris Farley dying while making Western comedies, I hope future overweight comedians learn to stay away from the genre, and maybe horses altogether. (Then again, John Belushi died anyway.) The other notable actor was John C. McGinley, who played the flamboyant book salesman Julian Rogers. McGinley is great on "Scrubs" and was good in pretty much everything he's ever done (including "The Guardian", which I didn't care for). But this is his best role, hands down. While this might be Candy's, I know for a fact it's McGinley's. He was born to be a homosexual gunslinger. The fact he is not one in real life is very disconcerting for me.As for the movie itself, it wasn't the funniest thing I ever saw, but it was good, and enjoyable. I guess I can't think of anything really nice to say about it. It's a dumb sort of humor, but not dumb offensive or anything, just dumb in the sense of what "Saturday Night Live" used to pump out. You know, just dumb. Watch it. I guess.

A lady enters a bar somewhere in the wild west. She looks very refined and is, in fact, seeking the man who bought her as a mail-order bride. When she learns a group of men pooled their monies together, she sits down at the bar and orders whiskey. Chalk up one more disillusioned traveler to the land beyond the Mississippi. Phil (Richard Lewis) and others are also fed up with the harsh living conditions. Why don't they all get a wagon train to go back to civilization? They find a wagon train leader (John Candy) who says he's the man to take them across the mountains, prairies and whatever other terrain is necessary to see the good life again. But, he is harboring a big secret. Also, once news goes to St. Louis that people are heading in the wrong direction, an army officer vows to keep these people from telling others how bad it really is. The Indians, however, may be happy indeed that settlers are leaving their territories! From bathroom stops in the bushes to campfire revelations between the manly men, this journey has it all. Can it succeed? This movie is fun, fun, fun, as the Beach Boys say. There is so much to spoof about the rough and tumble western frontier that the humor is never forced and gives way to many a giggle. The scenery is quite beautiful and the film sports an authentic look. Most of the actors are fine but Candy, who died during the filming and whose part was digitally completed, never seems like himself. His usual go-for-broke spirit is just not present. That said, the film still works beautifully and is a great view for any Saturday night of fun. If you love Candy, however, be prepared to cry a few tears for his loss from the world which dearly loved him.