Colin Hanks, director of the new Amazon documentary John Candy: I Like Me, has spoken about the challenges of capturing the much-loved comedian's life and career. The film's title comes from a famous scene in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, where Candy's character Del Griffith declares his self-acceptance. Hanks was struck by how often Candy brought similar nuance to other roles, even in lesser films.
Hanks, whose father Tom co-starred with Candy in Splash, has known the Candy family for years. He recalled being obsessed with the critically panned Who's Harry Crumb? as a child, describing Candy's performance as 'deliciously idiotic'. The documentary includes a specific hand gesture from that film that Hanks insisted on including.
The film goes beyond a greatest-hits reel, featuring home video footage and rare TV interviews that reveal Candy's discomfort with invasive questions. It focuses on the psychology driving him, including his happiness with family and struggles with health and self-image, but avoids portraying him as solely tortured.
Celebrity interviews abound, with contributions from Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Conan O'Brien, Tom Hanks, and Bill Murray. Murray jokes that the worst he can say about Candy is that he once annoyed director Sydney Pollack by milking a laugh. Hanks also noted that of three 'large actors' who died in their prime, two died of drug overdoses while Candy did not.
Hanks found a poignant dimension in Candy's life when he learned the actor lost his own father at age five. 'I just thought, from a human standpoint that is heart-wrenching,' Hanks said, reflecting on how that loss may have shaped the man behind the comedy.
