Ryan Reynolds and Colin Hanks pay tribute to Canadian comedy legend John Candy in new doc

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Long before he hatched the idea that he wanted to make a documentary celebrating the life and legacy of Canadian comedy legend John Candy, Ryan Reynolds had one thought: Why hadn’t anyone already made one?

Candy, who died of heart failure at the age of 43 in 1994, starred in a string of beloved comedies, including Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Uncle Buck, but he’d never gotten the cinematic tribute Reynolds thought he deserved.

“I’ve always been obsessed with John and I’ve always loved him so much,” Reynolds said ahead of the premiere of John Candy: I Like Me at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. “We live in a curated world and John wasn’t around for any of that. But he left in his wake a kindness and joy.”

After he released a Candy tribute video that showcased the many works of the late comic actor close to a decade ago, Reynolds, who was born and raised in Vancouver, said he was intrigued about telling the Toronto-raised comedian’s life story.

“Seven or eight years ago, we put out, through Maximum Effort (Reynolds’ production company), a montage of John Candy on his birthday. I don’t know why. It was his birthday and I wanted to share a little montage of his work,” Reynolds, 48, says in an interview with Postmedia. “It was very moving and it was set to some of the Dream Academy score that they used in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and man, people gravitated towards that. It took off.”

The response from fans served as what Reynolds calls “the maiden voyage” for what could later become a documentary.

Reynolds approached Colin Hanks, whose directorial work includes the 2015 documentary All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records, to see if he was interested in spearheading the project.

“Ryan reached out and pretty much said, ‘I don’t want to live in a world where there’s not a John Candy documentary.’ I kind of just went, ‘I think I agree with you,'” Hanks, 47, says. “So we just had a conversation about if there was a film, what would that look like?”

Hanks had vivid memories of meeting Candy as a child when his father, Tom Hanks, worked with the actor on ’80s comedies like Splash and Volunteers. So he knew that Candy had a knack for being able to connect with people.

“I had exchanges with him. Even if you were a young kid, he made you feel important and special,” Hanks says.

Hanks tapped Candy’s family and closest friends and co-stars, including Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Dan Aykroyd, Macaulay Culkin, Martin Short, Mel Brooks and his father Tom, to reminisce about the late actor.

Bill Murray also makes an appearance as he tearfully remembers the SCTV alum. During a panel discussion, Reynolds joked that his 2-year-old son convinced the Ghostbusters star to agree to be interviewed.

“‘Tell Bill to do the interview,'” he recounted instructing his son as he recorded a video message for Murray. “And he went: ‘Do the interview Bill,’ all angry. And I said, ‘Would you say no to a child like that? I don’t know what kind of monster you are,’ and the next thing I know, he was doing it.” 

The documentary also includes never-before-seen home videos and new interviews with his widow, Rose Candy.

At the world premiere for I Like Me, Reynolds, who wore a Canada T-shirt and showed up in a replica prop car from Planes, Trains and Automobiles, called Candy “the greatest man he’s never met.” Speaking to Postmedia, Reynolds said that Candy, who was nicknamed “Johnny Toronto,” has been an influence for his entire career.

“I think in some of my bigger movies, I’m one or the other. I’m either Del Griffith from Planes, Trains or I’m Neal Page from Planes, Trains,” he remarks. “I’ve learned a lot from those guys.”

For Candy’s children, Jennifer and Chris Candy, the film provides a sense of closure.

“It very much feels like a swan song and a beautiful goodbye to our dad,” Chris said. “This is the last great John Candy film that he gets to star in and we’re grateful for that.”

More than three decades after his death, Reynolds isn’t surprised that Candy remains so popular.

“I think people want to feel good, but they also want to feel together,” he says. “There’s something about John that screams togetherness. We live in an era of extraordinary identity politics, and identity politics are very poisonous because it’s always binary; right versus wrong. John didn’t hurt people, he didn’t punch down and he was still so funny … John brought people together and he did it with authority and leadership and kindness. That is something that is a scarce resource these days.”

The Toronto International Film Festival runs until Sept. 14.

John Candy: I Like Me debuts on Prime Video on Oct. 10.

mdaniell@postmedia.com