Only the Lonely (1991)

A Chicago cop must balance loyalty to his overbearing mother and a relationship with a shy funeral home worker.

Director:

Chris Columbus

Writer:

Chris Columbus

Stars:

John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Candy	...	Danny Muldoon
Maureen O'Hara	...	Rose Muldoon
Ally Sheedy	...	Theresa Luna
Kevin Dunn	...	Patrick Muldoon
Milo O'Shea	...	Doyle
Bert Remsen	...	Spats
Anthony Quinn	...	Nick Acropolis
James Belushi	...	Salvatore Buonarte
Joe Greco	...	Johnny Luna
Marvin J. McIntyre	...	Father Strapovic
Macaulay Culkin	...	Billy Muldoon
Kieran Culkin	...	Patrick Muldoon Jr.
Allen Hamilton	...	O'Neal
Teri McEvoy	...	Susan Muldoon
Bernie Landis	...	Larry

Storyline

Danny, a cop, meets and falls in love with Theresa. They get engaged, despite sneaking around behind his mother's back, but when push comes to shove, he can't quite quit worrying about his mother long enough to be any kind of lover to Theresa.

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Plot Keywords:

love | funeral | funeral home | title based on song | baseball | 

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Taglines:

The Man, The Woman, The Mother.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Irish Greek

Release Date:

24 May 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Yo, tú y mi mamá

Filming Locations:

1152 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$21,830,957 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Hughes Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Maureen O'Hara's first feature film role since Big Jake 20 years earlier. However, (with the exception of three tv movies) she never acted in another feature film after this.

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Quotes

Rose: I had a Pollock friend once. She was incredibly stupid...
Danny: Don't do this, Ma.
Rose: ...Julie Kapowski. She was the stupidest woman that I ever knew. She believed that black cows...
[laughs]
Rose: ...black cows squirted chocolate milk!

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Connections

Referenced in Showbiz Today: Episode dated 22 May 1991 (1991)

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Soundtracks

"ONLY THE LONELY"
Written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson
Performed by Roy Orbison
Courtesy of Sony Music Special Products, a division of
Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.

User Reviews

Terrific performances...sentimental comedy on mother/son relationship...

ONLY THE LONELY gives such rich roles to JOHN CANDY and MAUREEN O'HARA as an Irish mother and son enduring a love/hate relationship while his outspoken mother "tells it like it is" to anyone who stands between her and her son. This includes the girl he's smitten with, a shy, introverted type (ALLY SHEEN) who wants him to stop putting his mother first under any and all situations.

He's constantly imagining bad things happening to his mother if he neglects her (and this leads to some funny, imaginative moments that have him imagining the nightmarish things that happen when he turns his back on her). All of these incidents are vividly portrayed and given substance and wit by a clever script and some very truthful performances from the entire cast.

MAUREEN O'HARA is so perfect as the hateful mother with her bigoted view of "that Dago girl" that she should have had at least an Oscar nomination for her feisty portrayal. JOHN CANDY creates a really sympathetic character as the man hopelessly in love with the quiet girl his mother despises. ANTHONY QUINN gives a gentle, finely shaded performance of the man next door who loves Maureen from afar and JOHN BELUSHI is excellent as Candy's worker friend.

It's a good mixture of comedy and drama that never becomes too mawkish or sentimental and exposes some of the hypocrisies of human nature that are not often shown on screen.

Well worth watching for the performances alone.