''Uncle Buck'' is a 1989 American
comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
written and directed by
John Hughes. It stars
John Candy and
Amy Madigan
Amy Marie Madigan (born September 11, 1950) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1985 film ''Twice in a Lifetime (film), Twice in a Lifetime''. Her other film credits include ''Love ...
with
Jean Louisa Kelly,
Laurie Metcalf,
Jay Underwood,
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 200 ...
,
Gaby Hoffmann
Gabrielle Mary Antonia HoffmannStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', November 21, 2017 (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She made her film debut in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and found success as a child actress in ''Uncle Buck'' (1989 ...
,
Elaine Bromka, and
Garrett M. Brown appearing in supporting roles. The film tells the story of a bachelor who babysits his brother's rebellious teenage daughter and her younger brother and sister while the parents are away. It was released in theatres by
Universal Pictures
Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
on August 16, 1989, and grossed $79.2 million.
Plot
Bob and Cindy Russell have recently moved from
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
with their three children, 15-year-old Tia, 8-year-old Miles, and 6-year-old Maizy, to the
Chicago suburbs. Resentful about the move, Tia's relationship with her mother is fraught. One night, Cindy and Bob receive a call from Cindy's aunt informing Cindy that her father has had a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
, Bob and Cindy are reluctantly forced to leave the children in the care of Bob's brother, Buck, who is a
heavy drinker and
smoker who makes a living by betting on rigged
horse races. His long-term girlfriend, Chanice, desires to get married and start a family, while Buck wants to retain his freedom and lack of responsibility; Chanice warns him that he will eventually end up alone.
Buck quickly befriends Miles and Maizy, whom he has never met, but Tia is hostile and rebellious towards him. He settles into the Russell home and learns that he has been cropped out of his brother's wedding photos. Over the next several days, Buck takes the children bowling, ejects a drunken party clown from Miles' birthday party, defends Maizy from her school's strict assistant principal, and washes laundry in the kitchen sink because he cannot operate the washing machine. When Buck meets Tia's obnoxious boyfriend, Bug, he warns her that Bug is only interested in her for sex and repeatedly thwarts her plans to sneak out with him. In retaliation, Tia convinces Chanice that Buck is cheating on her with a neighbor, Marcy. When Chanice walks in on Marcy dancing with Buck, she ends their relationship. Buck laments that people used to envy his carefree life, but he realizes that lifestyle is no longer admirable.
After Tia sneaks out to a party, Buck decides to look for her instead of attending a horse race that would provide him with enough money for the entire year, and begs Chanice to look after Miles and Maizy. At the party, Buck forces open the door to a bedroom where he thinks Bug is taking advantage of Tia, but he finds Bug is with another girl who also seems relucent to be in the room with him. He binds and gags Bug and locks him in his car's trunk, then finds a tearful Tia, who admits Buck was right about Bug. Opening the trunk, Buck forces Bug to apologize to Tia before letting him go. Bug threatens to sue Buck, but Buck hits him with golf balls, causing him to flee in terror.
Tia reconciles with Buck, then mends his relationship with Chanice by admitting she lied and telling Chanice that Buck would make a good husband and father. Buck also agrees to take a steady job at Chanice's auto shop. Bob and Cindy return from Indianapolis after Cindy's father recovers, and Tia surprises her mother with a hug; Cindy promises that their relationship will improve. As he prepares to leave, Buck invites Tia to meet up with him in the city before exchanging a loving goodbye.
Cast
*
John Candy as Buck Russell, a bachelor who babysits his older brother's children
*
Jean Louisa Kelly as Tia Russell, the oldest daughter of Bob and Cindy
*
Gaby Hoffmann
Gabrielle Mary Antonia HoffmannStated on ''Finding Your Roots'', November 21, 2017 (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She made her film debut in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and found success as a child actress in ''Uncle Buck'' (1989 ...
as Maizy Russell, the youngest daughter of Bob and Cindy
*
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 200 ...
as Miles Russell, the only son of Bob and Cindy
*
Amy Madigan
Amy Marie Madigan (born September 11, 1950) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1985 film ''Twice in a Lifetime (film), Twice in a Lifetime''. Her other film credits include ''Love ...
as Chanice Kobolowski, Buck's girlfriend and proprietor of a tire shop
*
Elaine Bromka as Cindy Russell, the wife of Bob
*
Garrett M. Brown as Bob Russell, the older brother of Buck and husband of Cindy
*
Laurie Metcalf as Marcy Dahlgren-Frost
*
Jay Underwood as Bug, Tia's boyfriend
*
Brian Tarantina as E. Roger Coswell, a friend of Buck
*
Mike Starr as Pooter-the-Clown, a birthday clown
*
Suzanne Shepherd as Mrs. Hogarth, the assistant principal of Maizy's school
*
William Windom as Mr. Hatfield, the voice of the unseen neighbor of the Russells who Buck accidentally awakens upon his arrival
* Dennis Cockrum as Pal
*
Anna Chlumsky as one of Maizy's unnamed classmates
Notable additional voices were provided by
Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette (; born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987) and has since received several awards, including an Academy Award, two P ...
,
Jack Blessing,
Leigh French, and
Julie Payne.
Production
The film was the first one directed, written, and produced by
John Hughes under a multi-picture agreement deal with
Universal. Filming began on January 4, 1989, in Chicago.
The company decided to keep the production facilities and locations as close as possible. The vacant
New Trier High School in
Northfield,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, was chosen for the production facility. Three of its gyms were converted into sound stages on which several sets were constructed including the two-levelled interior of the Russell House, Buck's bedroom, and smaller sets.
The school was also equipped to suit the needs of the cast and crew behind-the-scenes, with classrooms for the young actors, offices, dressing rooms, a wardrobe department, editing facilities, a special effects shop, equipment storage areas, and a projection booth.
Production designer
John Corso began designing the sets in October 1988 and within seven weeks his construction crew of twelve carpenters and five painters began work on the two levels of the Russell house. The elementary school corridor, the boys' restroom, the principal's office, and a classroom were filmed at Wilmette's Romona Elementary School. A colonial-style house in
Evanston was chosen for the exterior of the Russell house. The exteriors and practical locations were shot in Chicago,
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
,
Skokie,
Northbrook,
Wilmette,
Winnetka,
Glencoe, and
Riverwoods.
Reception
Box office
The film earned $8.8 million on its opening weekend in 1,804 theatres and was placed No. 1 at the box office. The film stayed in first place for three more weeks before being bumped down to second by ''
Sea of Love''. Its US earnings were 18th in 1989, and the film has earned nearly $80 million worldwide since its release.
Critical reception
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' gave the film a score of one and a half out of four, writing that ''Uncle Buck'' was unusually bitter and angry for a Hughes movie: "...Hughes is usually the master of the right note, the right line of dialogue, and this time there's an uncomfortable undercurrent in the material".
Television series and remake
A television series was broadcast on
CBS in 1990. It starred
Kevin Meaney as Buck, a slob who drinks and smokes. When Bob and Cindy die in a car accident, he is named the guardian of Tia, Miles, and Maizy. The show was not received well by TV critics. After it was moved to Friday, in an attempt by CBS to establish a comedy night there, its ratings quickly plummeted and it was cancelled.
In June 2016,
ABC premiered a second television adaptation featuring an African-American cast with
Mike Epps in the title role,
James Lesure as his brother, and
Nia Long as Buck's sister-in-law. It suffered a similar fate as the previous TV adaptation, as it was poorly received by critics and then cancelled after eight episodes. In 1991, the film was remade in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
language and released as ''
Uncle Bun''.
References
External links
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{{John Hughes
Uncle Buck (franchise)
1989 films
1989 comedy films
American comedy films
1980s English-language films
Films about families
Films scored by Ira Newborn
Films adapted into television shows
Films directed by John Hughes (filmmaker)
Films produced by John Hughes (filmmaker)
Films set in Chicago
Films shot in Illinois
Films with screenplays by John Hughes (filmmaker)
Universal Pictures films
Films about siblings
1980s American films