John Candy documentary provides intimate, poignant and, yes, funny portrayal of a giant

“John Candy: I Like Me” is more love letter than documentary.

That’s not to say that this Colin Hanks-directed film fails at the latter, it’s more of testament to who John Candy was as a person and comedic actor. It’s a memorable, engrossing character study that will serve as the opening film in the Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival Tuesday, Oct. 7. It will premiere on Prime Video Friday, Oct. 10.

At one point, one person providing testimony as to who Candy was asks how could anyone laugh when he walked into a room.

That embodied a man who was both large in stature and in soul. He appeared in a host of bad 1980s-era comedies that excepting his appearances remain utterly forgettable. They include “Armed and Dangerous” and “Only the Lonely.”

But no actor should be completely criticized for career choices and there were plenty directors who knew how to maximize Candy’s immense talents, including when he was the headliner. For reference: check him playing opposite a pre- “Home Alone” Macauley Culkin in “Uncle Buck,” directed by John Hughes.

We saw him as the leader of polka band transporting a desperate mother (Catherine O’Hara) back to Chicago where her son – again, Culkin – is by himself in “Home Alone,” directed by Chris Columbus, is a masterwork of stealing a scene comedically. Mel Brooks saw him as the big, huggable dog Barf in the classic “Star Wars” satire “Spaceballs.”

But Hanks proves wise in cribbing part of his title from the quintessential Candy role as traveling salesman Del Griffith, who gloms on to fellow Thanksgiving holiday traveler Neal Page (Steve Martin) in another Hughes classic “Planes, Trains & Automobiles,” a film that has evolved into of all things a classic for Turkey Day.

Candy’s turn is hilarious and, as fans of the film know, eventually heartbreakingly tragic as Griffith and Page endure any number of mishaps, some caused by the former and endured with much consternation by the latter.

The documentary’s title comes from a monologue Griffith gives in the film after Page rips into him for all of their misfortune, most of which he blames Griffith. It may be Candy’s ultimate performance as you can see all of the pain in his character’s eyes helping to clue the viewer into the fact there is something else at play.

It would be easy to call it a tears-of-a-clown moment, given the prevalence of a lot of those who provide laughter in the entertainment realm often battle hidden demons.

Home video captures John Candy in the documentary “John Candy: I Like Me.”

Hanks doesn’t take the path of least resistance in exploring that. Candy possessed normal vices – food alcohol and smoking, which ultimately contributed to his untimely death from a heart attack at age 43 in 1994. Candy’s father died of the same in his 30s when he was five-years-old.

Additionally, his brother dealt with heart issues. That was the specter that haunted him and Hanks deals with it deftly. Thankfully, however, he concentrates on what made Candy so endearing to those whose lives he barreled into.

When comedic legends such as Martin, O’Hara, Brooks along with Tom Hanks, Bill, Murray, Martin Short, Eugene Levy and Dan Akyroyd sing your praises in a nearly two-hour documentary that feels it ended far too soon along with offspring, son Chris and daughter Jennifer, you’ve done something right.

“John Candy: I Like Me,” much like the man it explores is an often hilarious, sometimes tragic and intimate portrayal that anyone who appreciates comedy and the creators behind it should see.

George M. Thomas covers a myriad of things including sports and pop culture, but mostly sports, he thinks, for the Beacon Journal.