By Anne Brodie
John Candy was a giant of his generation. Physically big, yes, but in spirit, personality and comedy gifts, a behemoth. Born in Newmarket, Ontario and once established, a Queensville farm owner, his artistic journey to the top of the comedy heap was rapid. Colin Hanks and Ryan Reynolds’ documentary John Candy: Like Me is thorough and incredibly moving. Son, daughter and wife Chris Candy, Jennifer Candy-Sullivan, Rosemary Candy offer heartfelt love and admiration of the late actor as do his friends and colleagues including Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray, Macauley Culkin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Don Lake, Harold Ramis, Robin Duke and more. John Hughes a close friend wrote Trains, Planes and Automobiles for him. He was only the second person after a president to be honoured have LA’s Highway 405 shut down to make way for his funeral cortege. Akroyd calls him a “grand man. World famous, altar boy, percussionist, sweetest and most generous person ever known to me. I loved him.” He was compared him to the great Charlie Chaplin in his comedic talent and absolutely nothing but praise for his gentle nature and interviews from his family. The heart swells. His father had died when John was 5 and he appears never to have recovered so he’d turned his energies to being a good and present dad himself. Through his rise to fame from sketch comedy night at Firesign Theatre, three iterations of Second City, Chicago where Elaine May and Micke Nichols had established a comedy wave, bringing the Canadian Chapter with him. He had tough times, fearing he’d die at 35 like his father. Culkin who says his father was a monster worked with Candy, and found a friend. “He’d ask ‘How ya doing?’ He cared when not a lot of people did”. There is so much more to learn about him. I met him once and found him self deprecating, extraordinarily gentle, whimsical. An outstanding documentary on a one-of-a-kind individual. In theatres Oct. 10.
American boxer Christy Martin was a teen when she started boxing, and turns out, she was a natural. She had a gift for the “sweet art” and determined to make a career of it. Jump forward – she becomes the most successful female boxer of the 90s. Sydney Sweeney, heavy and muscular for the part, boxes like a champ and takes multiple hits – for real, no trick photography. Director and co-writer David Michôd’s Christy, a stark biographical feature on her career and troubled personal life is a sobering look at a master abuser and his victim. Christy had become a local sensation in her Ohio hometown and trainer Jim Martin (Ben Foster) came forward promising to take her to the top. He did and they married. But he was wary of her most innocent conversations eith others. He’s enraged when she calls former lovers who happen to be lifelong friends; he’s unable to control himself and viciously attacks her. She could have fought back but chose not to. He’s a liar and fraud; she knows but says nothing as her career’s going well with his connections and chutzpah. Don King brings her into the fold and launches major shows in Vegas; her win rate is phenomenal. Christy makes the cover of Sports illustrated and appears on TV sitcoms and talk shows but behind the scenes, she’s terrified of Jim. But she won’t leave him and tells interviewers she’s “no feminist”, just a real wife. It’s a bracing, terrifying cautionary tale, a stark true story of a major celebrity living a lie and in fear that may resonate with some women. Its dramatic but hopeful and may inspire others to leave bad situations and choose their own lives. Sweeney is exceptional, rising to the challenge of a complex role, and nailing the physical work. Also stars Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian, Ethan Embry, Jess Gabor, and Chad L. Coleman. In theatres Nov. 7
Mark Kelley hosts the Season 51 of CBC’s The Fifth Estate tonight at 9 pm with an explosive story – years of corporate denial and “fraudulent concealment” in BC that resulted in the identity theft and financial devastation of 28000 health care workers. The Denial Machine features several individual workers, nurses in the Interior Health system who appear on camera with their horror stories. They’d given their SIN numbers to IH, someone hacked IH’ system, stole the numbers, and sold them on the Dark Web. The buyers netted 28K health care workers’ info and via fake accounts tax refunds and credit card purchases, taking their money and identities. Mother always said “keep your SIN number private!” but IH required them for its hiring process. Data was hacked consistently, and repeatedly for some victims, dating back to 2011, all the while IH denied and still does, any accountability claiming there was no data breach. The CBC was able to produce tonight’s documentary when an ex-criminal hacker came forward to clear his conscience and help people unable to get help from the government or law enforcement. He provided a spreadsheet of 28000 names with all their SIN numbers. Former Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian who now works in the private sector is interviewed; she knew about the thefts but did nothing – no investigation. But she’s not unique- other officials turned their backs on the victims refusing to admit oor investigate; IH continues to claim innocence. This breathtaking carelessness haunts a former RCMP officer who says he thinks about the case every day; he left the force because of its initial refusal to investigate. Holy smokes.
Well, I’m not sure why the limited fact-based series Murdaugh: Death in the Family exists. It’s a grim, dark, unpleasant and very violent portrait of a South Carolina family that came to prominence when patriarch and bully Alex Murdaugh murdered his own wife and son in 2021. Alex, played with malignant glee by Jason Clarke, is an ugly man, driven by payback, power and overbearing hubris. He was charged with a number of crimes over the years related to fraud and drugs, but appears to have been Teflon; locals knew he was dangerous, person. He’s fine with his chosen lifestyle because he comes from a multigenerational family of powerful, prestigious lawyers, and he’s allowed to be. Fear gives him extra force. He’s never not been privileged. No one wall face up to him except his wife, the good natured, blunt, fun-loving Maggie (Patricia Arquette). She takes no BS from him. The son he killed, Paul (Johnny Berchtold) was under criminal indictment for the wrongful death of Mallory Beach while on a drunken boat joyride. Alex and his sons hunt large animals, not for food, but for sport, they take their local importance very seriously, twisting arms, threatening, getting their ways. Back to the murders that June 7, they’re the meat of the story which is about pure evil and how it destroys. Clarke is too good – we know Alex from the first few moments. The problem is that this dark retelling of the Murdagh story is unpalatable and brutally in yer face. If you’re looking for a feel bad series, this is it. Clarke is just very good at being bad. Or horrifying. Oct. 15 on Disney+.