Delirious

This is a much more watchable film than many of the lightweight vehicles Candy took part in in his post-SCTV career. His part could have been played by any number of comic actors, but John steps in and gives it his best shot. He's always fun to watch on screen, and he has a good time here without going over the top, which he tended to do.

DELIRIOUS is a weird mixture of Groundhog Day, Soapdish, and various Rod Serling scripts in which the characters in a story are being controlled by someone at a typewriter. It's a workable premise, and the actors make the most of the stock soap opera characters they play. David Rasche, Emma Samms, Raymond Burr et al were well-chosen for their parts. Bit parts by Robert Wagner and Marvin Kaplan (the voice of Choo-Choo on TOP CAT) are also memorable. Mariel Hemingway takes some flak on this comment board for her part, but she seemed suited for the role and moved smoothly from her gawky character to the soap opera "devil woman." This is a pleasant comedy but not as consistently funny as SOAPDISH. The script by veteran writers of Gilligan's Island and Bewitched suffers from a lot of unnecessary "language" (for what could otherwise be a family film) but moves along at a brisk pace (except for the longish horse-riding scenes).

This is one superb movie. I can watch it over and over and over again without tiring of it. John Candy is as engaging and as superbly comic as ever in this little gem. Also has a great cast including Emma Samms, Charles Rocket, Raymond Burr and Mariel Hemingway. ONE TO WATCH!

This is a really good movie to watch if you like silly/fun movies, parody movies, or john candy. It has a great blend of comedy, wit, action and all sorts of other things. I am pretty surprised by the low rating. Its not the best movie by any means, but greatly above standard and really enjoyable. The actors/actresses were funny and did their parts nicely. Its not exactly original though, and it doesn't look like it had the best budget, but it does what its suppose to.. make us laugh. Definitely worth checking to see if your video store rental has it. I rate it 7/10. Rated PG for sensuality, crude humor, language and comic violence.

"Delirious" is an amiable comedy starring John Candy. I liked it but also must admit that the story is slight and the concept, though interesting, seems difficult to maintain for 96 minutes.

Jack (John Candy) is the writer and producer for a daytime soap opera. However, when he's in an accident, he awakens to find himself living in the soap...and everything is very real. However, he also learns after a while that when he writes on his typewriter, things in this world change. So, he soon manages to become a 'Wolf of Wallstreet'...a rich playboy who is catnip for women and with almost god-like powers! What's next? Well, you can pretty much predict it from the clumsily written meet cute with Janet early in the story.

I enjoyed this one but just felt it had difficulty maintaining its momentum. It also was incredibly easy to predict much of what happens as a result of this weird experience...so much so that the finale seemed like a foregone conclusion. A good time-passer but not among Candy's best.

That's John Candy's dilemma in Delirious. Candy's a writer for a popular television day time soap which seems to bear more resemblance to the night time big budget soaps so popular in the Eighties. Anyway after some creative differences with fellow writers Jerry Orbach and Renee Taylor, Candy gets into a nasty car wreck and when he wakes up finds himself in the hospital of his own show being treated by a couple of the characters of same, doctor David Rasche and nurse Andrea Thompson.

After seeing this, I see where the creators of Pleasantville got their idea. Pleasantville of course was a bit more serious in its subject matter. Delirious was a good idea that didn't quite come off although the players do give it a good try.

Part of the problem is that even in the fantasy Candy's thinking with his hormones. He's got it bad for his show's star Emma Sammes who is doing a nice Joan Collins impersonation. There's good girl Mariel Hemingway who is auditioning in real life for a part on Candy's soap opera and she shows up in the fantasy as well.

I have to give special kudos to Raymond Burr who plays the family patriarch of this soap opera with tongue firmly in cheek. Burr's occasionally flashes a twinkle which you have to be sure to catch just to let you know how much he's enjoying this. Nice he took time off from Perry Mason here.

Sammes and Burr are the real treats of Delirious. It could have been a lot funnier, but I think someone like Mel Brooks should have directed it.