Canadian Bacon (1995)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Michael Moore

Writer (WGA):

Michael Moore (written by)

Release Date:

22 September 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It Gets Lonely at the Top, When There's No More Butt to Kick.

Plot:

The U.S. President, low in the opinion polls, gets talked into raising his popularity by trying to start a cold war against Canada.

Plot Keywords:

Niagara Falls | U.S. President | Canada | Special Forces | Food In Title

Cast

John Candy	...	Sheriff Bud Boomer
Alan Alda	...	President of the United States
Rhea Perlman	...	Honey
Kevin Pollak	...	Stu Smiley
Rip Torn	...	General Dick Panzer
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Roy Boy
Bill Nunn	...	Kabral
G.D. Spradlin	...	R. J. Hacker (as G. D. Spradlin)
Steven Wright	...	Niagara Mountie
James Belushi	...	Charles Jackal (as Jim Belushi)
Brad Sullivan	...	Gus
Stanley Anderson	...	Edwin S. Simon
Richard Council	...	Russian President
Wallace Shawn	...	Canadian Prime Minister
Michael Copeman	...	Panzer's Aide

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language and violence.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:PG (NO. 33582) | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Buffalo, New York, USA

Company:

Dog Eat Dog Films

Trivia:

A deleted scene featured James Belushi and Mary Charlotte Wilcox as Canadian border guards wearing beaver hats (in addition to Belushi's role as the rehabilitated news reporter). They improvised the entire scene. Afterwards, Belushi (a relative newcomer to the comedy scene) told comedy veteran Wilcox (whom he didn't recognize) that "you're kind of funny" and that she should try to get into the comedy business.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just as Honey finishes disabling the Hacker Hellstorm, the camera cuts briefly to a clock that stops at "0:08" after a computer falls over and explodes. The camera then cuts to the War room's countdown display, which indicates that the countdown stopped at "T-0:00.8", 0.72 seconds sooner than the Hellstorm's clock.

Quotes:

Hacker Hellstorm: This is the Hacker Hellstorm. One minute until total annihilation. Have a nice day.

Movie Connections:

Edited from WarGames (1983)

Soundtrack:

Snowbird

Very straight-faced political satire

Political activist Michael Moore made his film debut with the documentary, "Roger & Me" in 1989. During his long career, he has raised tons of controversy with his documentaries, especially during this decade, with the likes of the widely seen films, "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11". A few years after making his debut, Moore made this fictional piece, which is his only non-documentary film to date. "Canadian Bacon" is a comedy film, one which unfortunately didn't turn out so well.

The U.S. President is currently doing very poorly in the opinion polls, with the country's economy dropping very low. To raise his popularity, the President is convinced that he must start a war, something which he has never done before during his time in the White House. So, he decides to conduct a cold war against Canada. He uses the media to lie and do everything else he can to make Canada look bad and manipulate the American public into believing that their northern neighbours are their enemies. Bud B. Boomer, the Sheriff of Niagara Falls, crosses the border with Deputy Honey, Kabral Jabar, and Roy Boy, where they all intend to attack!

As you would expect from Michael Moore, this movie is very political, and if you're familiar with his political views, it shouldn't surprise you that this movie bashes the White House and the American military, whether you like it or not. Neither Americans nor Canadians are portrayed in a positive manor in the film, as neither are portrayed as very bright. Some Canadians have been offended by this movie, due to all the stereotypes, but personally, I'm not. In fact, I think one of the only remotely funny parts is the one where Sheriff Bud B. Boomer causes a riot at a hockey game in Canada when he says that Canadian beer sucks. I think the part where the RCMP Officer says "I don't know what you're talking aboot, eh?" gave be a bit of a snicker as well. However, most of the jokes, whether they're jabs at Canadians OR Americans, are simply not funny.

Comedian John Candy, a Canadian, starred in "Canadian Bacon" as Bud Boomer. The movie was released after his tragic death in 1994 from a heart attack, and his role in it was the last role he ever completed (he died during the filming of "Wagons East"). I was only about 7 1/2 years old when he died, and had never heard of him during his life. However, I have since discovered how great a comedian he was by watching "SCTV", a classic sketch comedy show, as well as the hilarious slapstick comedy "Planes, Trains & Automobiles". "Canadian Bacon", however, is not a highlight of Candy's career, though he might add something to the film. R.I.P.

A comedy movie about a war between America and Canada sounds like a good idea, but Trey Parker and Matt Stone did a MUCH, MUCH better job with it when they made "South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut"! In "Canadian Bacon", the jokes are mostly mediocre, and the movie may start out SLIGHTLY promising, but just drags for most of its approximate ninety-minute run. It appears that many have enjoyed this movie much more than I have, so I won't say avoid it like the plague, but I wouldn't expect a classic piece of political satire, and if you have high expectations, don't be surprised if they are not met.