Canadian Bacon movie poster John Candy’s last completed film, and the only non-documentary made my Michael Moore, Canadian Bacon is a hilarious satire of US-Canada relations, and has a certain dire edge in face of the current American incarnation.
It’s technically an American film, but Canadians have claimed it for our own. after all, Michael Moore is from a place that’s just over the water, and there’s enough beer and hockey jokes to make us Canucks feel comfortable. Yeah, we’ll call it a Canadian film.
Canadian Bacon is about an American president who, in order to revive his lagging popularity goes to war against Canada to become a war president.
Some angry Americans lead by John Candy start the assault on Canada sneaking past Canadian Mounties and attacking our ‘capital’, Toronto.
It’s a great poke at the ignorance of Americans, especially to their northern sibling, while also making fun of Canadians and our horribly frigid country. John Candy is always entertaining to watch, like a rejected version of John Belushi or Chris Farley. The chubby man always brings the laughs.
Watch this hilarious scene with John Candy and Dan Akroyd (as an Ontario Police Officer):
Actually, it’s not a great movie but one that’s pleasing enough to watch if you understand the stereotypes.
What makes it a great movie to watch right now, on the eve of the deployment of 21 000 extra troops to Iraq is that you see how eerily prophetic Canadian Bacon was.
Michael Moore would go on to make his attacks on the US government in Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, but back in 1995, he made fun of a government that went to war for popularity and, in a way, mental diversion.
Naturally, no one is suggesting that the US will attack Canada.. no, that’d be ridiculous. Best to contain the war in a weird part of the world, where it’s easy to paint an unflattering portrait of the people who live there. Canadian Bacon shows us how something that seems totally ridiculous, has a possible likelihood.
And if such an obvious satire can have some future-telling accuracy, what about other forward looking films?
Imagine if Rollerball comes true, or Running Man?
I say: I’d watch it over and over, but that’s because I never get tired of people making fun of Canada. Self-deprecation is one of our national sports!
See it for: The fight during the hockey fight that erupts over a beer insult!
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