Canadian Bacon

The premise of Canadian Bacon, that Canadians could rise up and rally to attack the United States, is as brilliant as it is hilarious. Unfortunately, it is not carried out as well as it could be. While this movie has its funny moments and a great cast, it gets bogged down at times because it appears the writers just couldn't think of enough topical humor to maintain this feature length film. It is, however, worth watching if nothing else to talk about at parties.

I don't usually write reviews, but I feel compelled. Just read through the user comments on Canadian Bacon here and I'm chuckleing. Not only is this movie subtly hilarious, its nearly perfect as so many people are only contributing to the joke.

I recall sitting in a hostel in Switzerland on a trip across Europe, and listening to two American guys drinking and talking to two Austrailians. They were telling them about this hilarious movie called Canadian Bacon that did such a great job of making fun of how stupid and dumb Canadians are.

Which only makes the movie better, because it is so obviously, once you are in the know, a satire of America and particularly it's arrogant/ignorant (take your pick) stereotypes of Canada.

Truly, with every scathing review stating "This movie is a waste of time as it makes obvious stabs at Canada. That country should be insulted and the joke gets old." No, the joke only gets better with every American reviewer who doesn't get it, pushing it that much closer to a truly inspired masterpiece.

I remember hearing poor reviews from Siskel and Ebert for this film when it came out. And I see what they meant, as I watch it today. It's not as snappy as it could have been, but there are some extremely funny lines. And it's especially timely to see the news anchors and "journalists" jumping on the hate-Canada bandwagon, because they still do that today, and seeing how ridiculous the arguments are against Canada makes one think about the dubious arguments made against other countries by our "journalists."

Kevin Pollack is really funny, as is John Candy. Rhea Pearlman is overly "quirky," in my view, but otherwise, I think it really rings true today. It's worth a rental!

If you would've told me that Canadian Bacon, a movie I remember basically because it was shown in a high school "media literacy" class would feel so...appropriate in 2025 (literally thirty years later), I wouldn't have believed you.

Fundamentally, this is a political satire about a post-Cold War United States desperate for a foreign enemy to a) scapegoat its domestic problems and b) justify maintaining its inflated military budget. But it's also about how quickly people can be convinced of an "enemy" out there by the power of the mass media (essentially, Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky).

As enlightened as we (probably) thought we would be, our current age reflects the same lesson people have had to learn time and time again: technology and methods change, people don't. As we stare down a manufactured conflict between the United States and Canada in 2025, this movie feels so relevant.

It is also, though, very much reflective of its time. In what was and still is his only fictional film, Michael Moore approaches the subject matter with a sledge hammer and pulls no punches in criticizing the American political class. There's a very mid 90s sardonic nature to this movie that I found not only charming, but honestly kind of irresistible.

One thing I really liked about this film was the cast. John Candy, Alan Alda, Bill Nunn, and Rip Torn are really, really good here. Canadian Bacon is a vertiable feast of 90s comedic talent.

The writing and structure of the film could be a bit better; I found some of the analogies confusing and some running jokes really unfunny. I didn't understand Rhea Perlman's character at all, and I also kind of wish we got the Canadian perspective. The film, despite its subject matter, feels oddly small (centred around Niagara Falls, New York)

As is typical for Moore, he tends to paint Canada as almost utopic; a country apparently devoid of anything negative at all, but obsessed with its maple syrup and beer, and (even inaccurate at the time) lily white. (Just an FYI, Canada isn't and never has been a homogenous nation of blondes with blue eyes, don't know where this idea comes from). But, it is funny to me that even back then, Canada was a shorthand for "friendly country."

It's not the best movie about frosty relations between the U. S. and Canada (that is definitely South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, which I may also watch as I drown myself in laughs). But it is kind of fun.

This is not one of Candy's best movies,(his number 1 being Planes, Trains, and Automobiles), but it is a funny movie. I read some comments on this movie from Canadians, and they're way too hard on it. It does poke fun at Canada a little, but it's not that bad. John Candy is actually Canadian, as almost anyone who knows who he is knows, and he really brought it out in this movie, just like in the old SCTV skits(that show needs to get on comedy central, in the time slot next to SNL. My local cable puts it on Saturday nights at about 2 a.m. I can't believe it!) I loved some of the jokes in this movie, (though at times some of them weren't funny, and also were slow) and scenes like the campfire, the hockey game, and the part where a cop pulls them over in Canada(in which Dan Akyroyd did a cameo, he also was in a film back in '88 with John Candy called 'The Great Outdoors'). That's all great stuff and makes up for some of the bad moments in the movie. Once again, no where near Candy's best movie, or performance, but it was still good fun. 2.5 / 5 stars