Search - Canadian Bacon on DVD

An underappreciated gem

E. PEPKE | Tallahassee, Florida United States | 08/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

The critics are wrong

Carl Johnson | Rensselaer, NY USA | 08/20/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."