Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Uncle Buck'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Family is a word, that invokes different responses in different people. For some, hearing that word makes their heart beam with joy as they reflect fondly upon how tight knit their family turned out to be, while others, feel disdain as they ponder upon a less than stellar childhood wherein they wanted nothing more than to escape their home life because their family was disappointing to say the least.
 
But regardless of your experiences with your siblings and parents, and how you feel about them, there are a pair of universal truths when it comes to family. The first one, is that family matters because the people we grew up with helped to define who we are today in just about every single way, and the other one, is that love them or hate them, family is family and there is a special bond that comes with these people that can never be broken because when the chips are down, we can always rely on someone we are related to and recently, I revisited a film that focuses heavily on that second element in Uncle Buck.
 
Now taking the time to summarize the plot here would just be silly, because this is an iconic comedy in its own right, that you’ve no doubt seen at this point. So instead, I want to talk about the fact that this particular film, is in many ways one of the most intelligent comedies out there since it does dig deep into the notion of family and what it means to people and the importance of never forgetting how important it is to appreciate family as a whole and it accomplishes this particular feat in subtle and beautiful fashion, by using the comedy as the setup for its commentary on the family unit.

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​Which is a good thing because let’s be honest, this is a damn hilarious film. Uncle Buck is one goofy guy who gets himself into some hilarious situations and some of the stuff he does here is classic to say the least. I mean come on, the clown scene is utterly amazing, as is the moment he shares with the principal. But once you get past the laughs, you see some incredibly realistic characters in front of you, and I found myself fascinated by the fact that this family unit is more or less an amalgamation of every family related stereotype out there since we have the rebellious and disrespectful kids and the estranged dynamic which is handled by way of the brothers, Buck and Bob.
 
But, while the film is relatable and hilarious, I did make mention of the fact that this movie focuses upon the importance of family and how some of the people we share blood with are there for us when things get rough and all of that is presented to the audience by way of the plot itself since crisis serves as the catalyst for everything in this tale and the potential loss of life and the anxiety that comes from that forces these characters to face some hard truths about their own lives and realize how fleeting and precious life truly is and well, that’s the best part about the film; the fact that the characters grow and come to realize that it is never too late to forgive and forge ahead in life. 
 
Now, if you’re thinking that this all seems like a bit much and there’s no way a comedy could feature this kind of thoughtfulness, I would have agreed with you a week ago. Because it has quite some time since I’ve seen this film. But watching it again after all these years after getting a taste of what life has to offer, well, I came to discover that this one was ahead of its time and that’s courtesy of John Hughes’ brilliant script and John Candy’s phenomenal performance. Yet perhaps the true beauty of this film, is that it never brings its points up in heavy handed fashion. For the casual viewer, they are treated to a rip-roaring hilarious comedy that brings them joy. But it’s obvious that Hughes wanted to accomplish a little more with this story, and he did that well, once again cementing his status as a true filmmaking genius because this one, is a special film indeed.

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