Product Description

"Surrender pronto, or we'll level Toronto!" Writer/director Michael Moore (Roger and Me) serves up a "delightfully ludicrous" (Sight and Sound) political send-up brimming with madcap hilarity and side-splitting slapstick! Starring legendary funnyman John Candy, as well as Rhea Perlman, Alan Alda, Kevin Pollak, Rip Torn and Steven Wright, Canadian Bacon is one "funny, acidic satire" (Variety)! Faced with sagging approval ratings and disgruntled arms manufacturers, the U.S. President (Alda) decides to cook up a new Cold War with Canada! And after a flood ofmedia propaganda, Americans waste no time in "patriotically" burning their ice skates and swearing off maple syrup. But when bumbling U.S. sheriff Boomer (Candy) and his hair-trigger deputy Honey (Perlman) decide to take matters into their own hands and lead a preemptive strike, they soon find themselves embroiled in a hilarious international incident that's too close for comfort, eh!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9434 in DVD
• Brand: CANDY,JOHN
• Released on: 2001-05-22
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 91 minutes

Amazon.com
Fresh from the success of Roger and Me, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore made the mistake of trying his hand at fiction film. Hoping to satirize America's leap into the Gulf War (and its abandonment of its industrial base), he wrote and directed this disappointing comedy, which fell flat despite a cast that included Alan Alda, Rip Torn, Rhea Perlman, John Candy, and Kevin Pollak. The premise is that the president (Alda) is so far down in the polls that he has to create a war to bolster his popularity; he picks a fight with Canada, demonizing the bland denizens of the Great White North to the point that a group of Niagara Falls law-enforcement types (led by Candy in one of his final film roles) decides to invade on their own initiative. There are a couple of funny moments (mostly having to do with the propaganda campaign against Canada), but otherwise, a frozen stiff. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

More! A hidden gem.
Canadian Bacon is Moore's only non-documentary. It is still a scathing attack on US presidential politics. It was made during the Clinton administration (and republican critisism of Moore was notably absent), but does well apply to the present situation. I just hope Moore's prophesies turn in!
There are some absolutley hilarious moments like when the 'invaders' have to paint there anti-Canadian grafitti in both French and English, or (my favourite) when they only know the first line of 'Born in the USA.'
This film deserves more attention.

Excellent satire
I've read some bad reviews for this film. I think it's probably because some people just had different expectations from it. It is an excellent political satire, with a strong statement, which makes you laugh and think at the same time. If that's what you are looking for, if you like "Wag the Dog" and "Doctor Strangelove", then you'll probably like this one as well!

An underappreciated gem
Moore may have been trying to produce liberal commentary, but as Spike Lee with Bamboozled, he got caught up in the form and managed to produce an excellent satire that skewers everybody. From the machinations of Alan Alda as the President of the U.S. to the homage to Life of Brian where a Canadian policeman makes the American invaders translate the insults painted on their truck into French to please the Quebecois, to the invaders pushing through a crowd of Canadians who apologize to being in the way to Rhea Perlman delivering the line "Canuck Central," this is the ultimate send-up of all Canadian stereotypes of America and American stereotypes of Canada.

It doesn't hurt that Candy is from the Toronto Second City troupe, and even Rhea Perlman out-Andrea-Martins the original. Kevin Pollak, in his own cubicle-farm way, works as well as George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove.