Canadian Bacon

Canadian Bacon is a 1995 American-Canadian comedy film written, produced, and directed by Michael Moore which satirizes Canada–United States relations along the Canada–United States border.[3] The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Alan Alda, John Candy, Bill Nunn, Kevin J. O'Connor, Rhea Perlman, Kevin Pollak, G. D. Spradlin, and Rip Torn.

This article is about the film. For other uses, see Canadian bacon.

Canadian Bacon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Moore
Produced by
Written byMichael Moore
Starring
Music by
CinematographyHaskell Wexler
Edited by
Production
companies
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Gramercy Pictures
Release date
  • September 22, 1995 (1995-09-22)
Running time
90 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11 million
Box office$178,104[2]

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival,[4] and was the final film released starring John Candy, though it was shot before the earlier-released Wagons East. It is also Moore's only non-documentary film to date.[5]

Plot

Thousands of former employees are outraged with military businessman R. J. Hacker (G. D. Spradlin), who had closed down his weapons manufacturing plant, Hacker Dynamics. At a conference held at the former plant, he pins the blame for the shutdown of his business on the current President of the United States (Alan Alda), who has just arrived. The president defends his own belief that the future of the children is more important than war, which has caused major decline in his approval rating. After the conference, he expresses to confidantes General Dick Panzer (Rip Torn) and National Security Advisor Stuart Smiley (Kevin Pollak), revealed to have ties with Hacker, his discontent about not having an enemy to engage in war. An attempted negotiation with Russian President Vladimir Kruschkin (Richard E. Council) to start a new cold war with Russia fails, and the president's suggestion of a war on international terrorism is deemed too absurd.

Serendipitously, American sheriff Bud Boomer (John Candy) offensively criticizes Canadian beer while attending a hockey game between the neighboring nations in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The ensuing brawl ends up on the news and catches Stuart's attention; Stuart, in turn, collects more information about Canada from a CIA agent named Gus (Brad Sullivan), and suggests Canada as their new enemy during a cabinet meeting. Before long, television channels are littered with anti-Canada propaganda, which Boomer believes wholeheartedly. He prepares for war by distributing guns to his fellow sheriffs, including his girlfriend Honey (Rhea Perlman) and their friends Roy Boy (Kevin J. O'Connor) and Kabral Jabar (Bill Nunn). After they apprehend a group of Americans "dressed as Canadians" attempting to destroy a hydroelectric plant, despite Gus's protests that they are just Americans, they sneak across the border to litter on Canadian lands, which leads to Honey being arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In a rescue attempt, Boomer, Roy Boy and Kabral sneak into a Canadian power plant and cause a countrywide blackout. When the president learns of this, he orders Boomer's immediate removal from Canada before it is too late.

Hacker, seeking revenge on the president for shutting down his business, uses a software program ("Hacker Hellstorm") to activate missile silos across the country. The president learns that the signal causing the activation of the silos originated from Canada, and summons Hacker. Hacker offers to sell a program to the president that can cancel out the Hellstorm—for $1 trillion. Stuart, fed up with the president being too busy to give Hacker the money, realizes that Hacker, getting up to leave, is the one controlling the silos, not Canada, and, after storming up, takes the operating codes from him required to stop the Hellstorm (accidentally killing Hacker in the process). The president orders Stuart's arrest, despite his protests that he is now able to give the codes to the president so they could deactivate the missiles, which are aimed at Moscow. As the launch time approaches the president pleads with Canadian Prime Minister Clark MacDonald (Wallace Shawn) over the phone to stop the launch.

Meanwhile, Honey was taken to a mental hospital upon her capture and escaped all the way to the CN Tower. She discovers the central computer for the Hellstorm located at the top and destroys it with a machine gun, aborting the launch sequence. She then reunites with Boomer, who had tracked her to the Tower, and they return to the United States via a speedboat.

An ending montage reveals the characters' fates: Boomer realizes his dream of appearing on Cops; Honey has been named "Humanitarian of the Year" by the National Rifle Association; the president was defeated in the next election by a large landslide and now hosts Get Up, Cleveland; Stuart served eight months in prison, but was pardoned by the new president; Panzer committed suicide after learning that Hogan's Heroes was fictional; Gus was last spotted heading to Mexico in a tank; Hacker's body has been viewed daily at Republican National Headquarters; Kabral has become a hockey star, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy three years in a row; Roy Boy's whereabouts become unknown; and MacDonald is "still ruling with an iron fist".

Cast

Production

The film was shot in fall 1993,[6] in Toronto, Hamilton, and Niagara Falls, Ontario; and Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York. Scenes depicting the rapids of the Niagara River were actually filmed at Twelve Mile Creek in St. Catharines. Parkwood Estate in Oshawa was the site for the White House, and Dofasco in Hamilton was the site for Hacker Dynamics. The scene where the American characters look longingly home at the US across the putative Niagara River is them looking across Burlington Bay at Stelco steelworks in Hamilton, Ontario.[7]

The hockey game/riot were shot at the Niagara Falls Memorial Arena in Niagara Falls, Ontario,[8] and the actors portraying the police officers (who eventually join in the riot upon hearing "Canadian beer sucks") are wearing authentic Niagara Regional Police uniforms.[9]

The film has numerous cameos by Canadian actors, including Dan Aykroyd, who appears uncredited as an Ontario Provincial Police officer who pulls Candy over (ticketing him not for the crude anti-Canadian graffiti on his truck, but its lack of a French translation). Moore himself appears as an American gun nut.

Reception

Canadian Bacon has a 14% from Rotten Tomatoes.[10]

Nathan Rabin in a 2009 review concluded, "After generating solid laughs during its first hour, Canadian Bacon falls apart in its third act," lamenting the film "was perceived as too lowbrow for the highbrows, and too highbrow for the lowbrows."[11]

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See also

References
  1. "Canadian Bacon (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. April 21, 1995. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  2. Canadian Bacon on IMDb
  3. Holden, Stephen (September 22, 1995). "FILM REVIEW; America's Cold War With Canada. Just Kidding!". The New York Times.
  4. "Festival de Cannes: Canadian Bacon". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
  5. Fine, Marshall (November 28, 1993). "Movies: On Location: Will His 'Bacon' Sizzle? : Sure, Michael Moore can get a rise out of former GM honcho Roger Smith, but let's see how the documentarian does with his first feature". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  6. Bradley, Ed (April 26, 1995). "Moore Gets to 'Super Bowl' of Film Makers". Flint, Michigan: The Flint Journal via Dog Eat Dog Films (Michael Moore official site). Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
  7. Imdb Canadian Bacon (1995) Filming Locations
  8. "Rhea Pearlman at the Niagara Falls Arena During the Filming of Canadian Bacon". Retrieved April 10, 2008.
  9. "John Candy at the Niagara Falls Arena During the Filming of Canadian Bacon". Retrieved April 10, 2008.
  10. "Canadian Bacon". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  11. Rabin, Nathan. "North of the Border Case File #135". AV Club. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
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