Cara mamma, mi sposo

Personally, I would watch Maureen O'hara recite the local phone directory-even at age 71. John Candy shows his big, soft side in one of my favorite efforts of his. While the plot is fairly predictable from the outset, the treat to me is watching the interaction between O'hara and Candy. She is snide enough to make me want to dislike her intensely. But she's Maureen O'hara-I couldn't hate her if I wanted to. An entertaining movie that garnishes a 7 from the swingman.

John Candy was one of the most gifted actors in Hollywood having seen his performances in Splash, Uncle Buck, Spaceballs and Cool Runnings he had a great talent for both comedy and drama. Only the Lonely is a funny little gem that also features the great acting of Maureen O'Hara, Jim Belushi & Ally Sheedy.

The story is simple a lonely Chicago cop in his late 30's finds romance with the daughter of a funeral parlour owner he must also deal with his mother who disapproves of the relationship. Maureen O'Hara portrayed the role of Rose Muldoon to perfection, she comes across as a tight fisted iron willed Irish woman who tells it like it is without any regard of who gets hurt.

Danny Muldoon (Candy) is a 38 year old police officer who still lives with with his mother in Chicago he is always worried about her to the point of having nightmares in which something bad happens. still single and longing to find love soon enough his search ends up in the one place nobody would expect. One evening at a bar Danny crosses paths with Theresa Luna (Sheedy) the shy daughter of funeral parlour owner Johnny Luna (Greco). The next day he heads to the parlour where Theresa does make up for the stiffs. He asks her out, she says yes. The funniest scene is when they are on the date and he tells an amusing story about his brother Patrick's (Dunn) bachelor party.

Another plot of the film sees Nick Acropolis (Quinn) Danny's neighbour trying to win the affections of his mother he's been asking her out for years she keeps turning him down. However by the end of the film after accepting her son's choice to be with the love of his life she warms up to Nick's charms.

Funny & filled with many dramatic moments Only The Lonely is a good gem of a movie for anyone out there. Rest In Peace John you are missed.

Roles like this helped make big John Candy somewhat of a beloved figure in his time. He was good at playing big, lovable oafs that usually messed up but had a good heart.

Many times, as in here, he might appear jovial on the outside but inside he was a very lonely guy, hence the title. I'll bet a number of viewers could identify with him. In this film he plays "Danny Muldoon."

Ally Sheedy's character, "Theresa Luna," is sweet in the beginning but then becomes unfairly-demanding and annoying by the end. Maureen O'Hara did a fine job playing "Danny's" domineering mother, "Rose." She came out of retirement to do this film and did herself proud. Anthony Quinn's role was stupid.

This movie is billed as a comedy but I didn't find a lot of laughs in it. It's really more of a sentimental drama, and it works on that level. I always enjoy seeing comedians do drama, because they are so good at doing it. I'm sorry Candy didn't make a few more dramatic roles.

ONLY THE LONELY gives such rich roles to JOHN CANDY and MAUREEN O'HARA as an Irish mother and son enduring a love/hate relationship while his outspoken mother "tells it like it is" to anyone who stands between her and her son. This includes the girl he's smitten with, a shy, introverted type (ALLY SHEEN) who wants him to stop putting his mother first under any and all situations.

He's constantly imagining bad things happening to his mother if he neglects her (and this leads to some funny, imaginative moments that have him imagining the nightmarish things that happen when he turns his back on her). All of these incidents are vividly portrayed and given substance and wit by a clever script and some very truthful performances from the entire cast.

MAUREEN O'HARA is so perfect as the hateful mother with her bigoted view of "that Dago girl" that she should have had at least an Oscar nomination for her feisty portrayal. JOHN CANDY creates a really sympathetic character as the man hopelessly in love with the quiet girl his mother despises. ANTHONY QUINN gives a gentle, finely shaded performance of the man next door who loves Maureen from afar and JOHN BELUSHI is excellent as Candy's worker friend.

It's a good mixture of comedy and drama that never becomes too mawkish or sentimental and exposes some of the hypocrisies of human nature that are not often shown on screen.

Well worth watching for the performances alone.

'Only the Lonely' is an okay film, that rides on the late/great John Candy's undeniable talent. The talented actor, pitches in a likable performance, that dominates the film.

'Only the Lonely' Synopsis: A Chicago cop must balance loyalty to his overbearing mother and a relationship with a shy funeral home worker.

Besides Candy's likable performance, 'Only the Lonely' also manages to get in some cute/funny moments. The characters are nicely written & the Screenplay overall, has some niceness to it. But, the slow-pace as well as the length, needed some serious persuasion. The pace is slow & the film is lengthy by at least 15-minutes. Chris Columbus's Direction is fair. Cinematography is standard. Editing isn't crisp.

Performance-Wise: Candy is the life of 'Only the Lonely'. Maureen O'Hara is theatrical. Ally Sheedy is cute. Anthony Quinn & James Belushi appear in brief roles.

On the whole, 'Only the Lonely' is a yet another example of how great an actor John Candy was.