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\n\tJohn Candy: I Like Me <\/em>is an anomaly in the context of celebrity documentaries<\/a>. It contains few of the famous-person struggles that have become clich\u00e9s of the genre \u2014 no scandal, no addiction, no bankruptcy, no notably objectionable behavior. The comedian was not without his struggles, but this is a nice movie. And it\u2019s made by Hollywood Nice Son Colin Hanks<\/a>, who met Candy when Candy co-starred with his father, Tom, in 1984\u2019s Splash<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe was an incredibly engaging personality,\u201d Colin Hanks recalls. \u201cIt takes a special kind of person to leave that kind of imprint on a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tI Like Me<\/em>, released by Prime Video, came to Hanks through producer Ryan Reynolds, who long has had an affinity for Candy and already had secured participation from Candy\u2019s children, who supplied the production with home movies, scripts and other hallmarks from their father\u2019s vast archives.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe resulting film is a touching homage to an entertainer who somehow held on to his sense of self despite losing his father on his 5th birthday, battling anxiety at a time when mental health wasn\u2019t commonly discussed in mainstream culture, and being grilled by journalists about his weight. The title comes from a well-known Planes, Trains and Automobiles<\/em> monologue in which Candy\u2019s character, chummy salesman Del Griffith, responds to put-downs from Steve Martin\u2019s unsympathetic advertising exec, Neal Page, saying, \u201cThink what you want about me. I\u2019m not changing. I\u202flike me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOne of Hanks\u2019 greatest research finds was outtakes from Candy\u2019s Home Alone<\/em> improvisations. His role as the \u201cpolka king of the Midwest\u201d is one of the blockbuster\u2019s most memorable elements, and director Chris Columbus dug up the dailies from his basement. That footage now doubles as a tribute to Candy\u2019s scene partner, Catherine O\u2019Hara, who delivered Candy\u2019s eulogy in 1994 and died in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHanks acknowledges that there\u2019s a more \u201csalacious\u201d version of the doc that draws contrasts between Candy and his two large-framed peers who died of drug overdoses, John Belushi and Chris Farley, but he chose not to go down that path. \u201cIt\u2019s my job as a filmmaker to not create drama but to show where that drama actually existed and present it in a way that is engaging,\u201d he says. \u201cEverybody experiences trauma in some shape or form. It doesn\u2019t have to be big-T trauma. But those personality traits \u2014 that gregarious, everybody-come-together energy \u2014 was what made John special. They were also learned coping mechanisms.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe goal, in Hanks\u2019 eyes, was to deepen the public\u2019s understanding of the man who helped to define a generation of comedy with Second City Television<\/em>, Brewster\u2019s Millions<\/em>, Spaceballs<\/em>, Uncle Buck<\/em> and Cool Runnings<\/em>. \u201cI remember thinking early on that John was this everyman, and people saw a quality in him that they connected with,\u201d says Hanks. \u201cWhat if the quote-unquote issue that our subject has is just as relatable as what everyone else goes through?\u201d<\/p>\n