Customer Reviews

Canadian Bacon

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

I found this movie to be rather hilarious in a political sense when I first saw it, but now the current situation with Bush and the US just adds onto it's charm.

Dubya, like Alda in the movie, tries to draw attention away from domestic problems by creating a war (Iraq) just as Alda does with Canada. You'd think that Michael Moore is a prophet by seeing this movie today.

Anyway, great movie for those that like satrical comedies and have an interest in politics. John Candy does a great job and the movie is one of the most under-rated of all time.

Maybe I live too close to the Canadian border, but I thought this was an incisive and hilarious look at the end of the cold war and our relations with our forgotten neighbor to the north. John Candy is perfect in his role as a jingoistic sheriff determined to save us from the Canadian menace. Kevin Pollak is Kevin Pollak, but he does it well. This was the first film in which Alan Alda redeemed himself to me ("Flirting with Disaster" was the second). I find most of Michael Moore's stuff too precious and uncomplicated, but in going to fiction, he's able to show that there are multiple sides to a complicated story like the end of the arms race, and he pokes tremendous fun at our complete unfamiliarity with Canada.

'Canadian Bacon' is a pretty funny movie with quite a few funny lines and some great casting and acting. The best part of the movie is what some people just don't understand and hate it for -- this isn't an anti-Canadian movie; it's a movie that pokes fun at the almost "playful" hatred Americans have for Canada, making America look like the idiots. At that, it does a good job. It also has one of my favorite lines ever-- "There's a time for thinking, and a time for action. And this, gentlemen, is no time for thinking!"

Overall, it's a fun movie that won't disappoint if you like John Candy and think the hatred Americans pretend to have for Canadians is just silly.

I wasn't surprised to read the so-called "professional" critics blast this movie, they should get real jobs in the first place. I also wasn't surprised to see most of the "real" people who reviewed this movie loved it, as I also thought it was hilarious. Matter of fact, I only read the reviews of those who DIDN'T like it as I couldn't figure out why anyone wouldn't...but I think I have. If you check out the unfavorable reviews, you will see they were all written by people who take themselves way too seriously! How can you expect someone like that to like such a funny movie? 'Canadian Bacon' goes over their heads, the subtle humor is lost on them and they can never laugh at themselves. Did anyone notice that all the Americans are played by Canadians? John Candy, Alan Alda, etc. What a great way to poke fun at Americans poking fun at the Canadians! I am sure the same people that didn't get this movie are the same ones that realize that the so-called "racist" scenes in 'Blazing Saddles' are actually anti-racist. And what is so remarkable is that both Michael Moore and Mel Brooks can send a message to the world through very funny movies. This is pure genius!

'Canadian Bacon' isn't a movie you want to rent, it is a movie you want to own. Why? Because you have to watch it over and over again to catch all the subtleties, as they are hard to catch when you are laughing your ... off. Of course, you have to be able to laugh in the first place!

And by the way, I am not related to the Michael Moore who made this movie!

This movie was funny. I watched it from the perspective of living in the US all my life except for 3 years when I lived in a suburb of Toronto. I really thought that the part about the riots over an American saying that Canadian beer sucks was expecially funny. I turned 19 in Ontario (their legal drinking age) so I had my share of Canadian beer and I have to say that I still like American beer better. Oh, and by the way, my Mom and I were extras in this movie (in the scene where Alan Alda goes to Hacker for a speach). The casting person asked if we could play American rednecks. We looked at each other and laughed. She didn't know that we were American until after she asked that question. I think she was a little embarrassed once she figured it out since she asked the question in a rather demeaning way.

I suggest this movie if you want some humor. If you are looking for a serious movie pass it by. Well if you were looking for a serious movie you wouldn't be reading reviews about a John Candy movie. There are a lot of big names actors involved and it is funny to see them all act together.

Ah, the Cold War. As we stare wistfully back at that half-century of empty threats and balks from the Soviet Union that let our nation prosper so, employing so many Americans, singlehandedly defeating the looming specter of poverty through the massive peacetime military buildup that was our citizens' collective meal ticket, we can't help but worry about how we'll fare economically now that we've been forced into autonomy from the federal government...And so begins "Canadian Bacon", Michael Moore's 1994 fictitous laff riot. It's an amazingly astute and hilarious look at how beneficial cold wars really are to a country; and Moore doesn't let up in his continuing crusade against the downsizing enigma, setting the movie in Niagra Falls, New York, a city ravaged by unemployment, suicides, and crime, due to the closing of (you guessed it) a cold war arms plant. The American characters, John Candy in paticuliar, are all perfect, and the Candian mounties had me rolling on the floor. Michael Moore's first foray into fiction is utterly flawless.

This is one of my favorite movies ever. As a Canadian, I always thought that this movie was making fun of Americans. It never occurred to me that other Canadians might find it offensive. The way it exaggerates the stereotypes Americans have of Canadians makes Americans look stupid, in my opinon. But it also exaggerates the extent to which Americans believe these stereotypes. It is a very funny SATIRE, so whether you are Canadian or American, don't take it too seriously. That's the problem with all of Michael Moore's work, people take them too seriously.