A lot of the movies I talk about are very serious and complex story driven films. I thought today I would mix it up and talk about some more lighthearted films that I love. The first being a movie called Uncle Buck (1989). This movie has a very lighthearted and fun vibe to it. The main character being the great John Candy adds to this tremendously. But what makes this film so special is that it has a comedic tone without taking away from the actual story and film elements. This is a problem a lot of comedies run into in modern times. They are funny but only if you completely shut your brain off and just laugh at a fart joke every two minutes. The modern comedy fails to capture the beauty of film making that I love so much. They sacrifice every possible chance to make a decent quality movie just so they can throw in as much potty humor and unfunny jokes as possible. Uncle Buck is a perfect example of what I think a comedy should be. The comedy is driven by the story and is actually funny without having to tell you it’s supposed to be. The story itself is nothing super special, just a story about an uncle taking care of his nieces and nephew for a few days. But this is where it differs from a modern comedy. Instead of this being the entire plot and the rest of the content being quick gags and bad jokes, there is more real substance to the story. Throughout the time Buck spends watching the kids, he realizes the life he is living isn’t what he wants and by the end he has changed and wants to change his life. There is a B plot that is kind of similar with the oldest daughter who is the stereotypical movie teenage girl. At the beginning of the movie she hates her mom and the world and she rebels every chance she gets. But by the end of the movie, she sees the fault in her ways and realizes that the people she pushed away from were just trying to help her. The modern comedy fails to explore the nuances and substance of a real story and instead just throw noise at you and hope you laugh enough to spend more money. Another film that perfectly encaptures the idea of a good story with comedy is Groundhog Day (1993). This movie has the amazing Bill Murray who has mastered the art of sarcastic comedy. This film has numerous instances of Murray delivering his lines in the perfect way that makes the comedy work. There are not many actors who could make this role work the way Murray did and in a lot of cases the film wouldn’t have been a comedy without him. This movie juggles a very complex and creative story idea with tones of humor and romance without ever feeling like it was trying too hard in one category. Even though the basic idea of the plot is somewhat silly and very unrealistic, the story still hits close to home. The story makes you feel all of the emotions and doesn’t just command you to laugh. I think that if more comedies took notes from Uncle Buck and Groundhog Day, there would be a lot more quality comedies and you wouldn’t have to go to a drama film just to get a decent story.
