Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)

"My reputation precedes me. Otherwise, I'd be late for all my appointments."

Director
Paul Flaherty

Cast

John Candy - Harry Crumb
Jeffrey Jones - Eliot Draisen
Annie Potts - Helen Downing
Tim Thomerson - Vince Barnes
Barry Corbin - P.J. Downing
Shawnee Smith - Nikki Downing
Valri Bromfield - Detective Casey
Renée Coleman - Jennifer Downing
Wesley Mann - Tim

John Candy is a comedian I still miss. 

I was 13-years old when he died in 1994, and I recall being sincerely sad over hearing of his death. His performances in "Uncle Buck," "SpaceBalls," "Home Alone," and "Cool Runnings," along with his Saturday morning cartoon, "Camp Candy" made impressions on me in my younger days. 

There are a lot of his movies I haven't seen but intend to. Others, I haven't seen in years and want to revisit them. 

One of those movies is his 1989 comedy "Who's Harry Crumb?" I hadn't seen this before. 

When it comes to John Candy's style of comedy, he often plays a variety of characters that are so versatile and realistic, often relatable and likeable. 

His way delivering jokes along with his knack for timing is fantastic. Candy is a comedian unlike any other, and I mean that sincerely. And "Who's Harry Crumb?" is a rare movie that Candy produced. 

In this movie, Candy plays a private detective hired to investigate the kidnapping of a Beverly Hills fashion model named Jennifer Downing (Renée Coleman). The kidnapper is demanding a substantial ransom. 

Jennifer's father, P.J. Downing (Barry Corbin), who's a multimillionaire, is desperate to find her. So, he turns to his close friend, Eliot Draisen (Jeffrey Jones) for help as Draisen is president of the Crumb & Crumb Detective Agency. 

Downing, though, is completely unaware that Draisen happens to be the kidnapper. 

So, to make it look like he's helping his buddy, he hands the case over to Harry Crumb (John Candy), the last descendent of the agency's founders.

Crumb's office is out in Oklahoma, away from the home base. Crumb, a master of disguise, is too clumsy and stupid to be a decent detective. Of course, Downing doesn't know that. 

Crumb starts his investigation by first meeting with the Downing family. He connects with Jennifer's younger sister, Nikki (Shawnee Smith) who quickly takes the role of an assistant. 

He also meets with P.J. and his wife, Helen (Annie Potts). 
Helen is having an affair with her tennis coach, Vince Barnes (Tim Thomerson). 

John Candy in "Who's Harry Crumb?"

Under disguise, Crumb sneaks into the health salon where Jennifer was kidnapped. There, he learns that Jennifer used an appointment that originally belonged to Helen. This arouses his suspicions that Helen and Vince kidnapped Jennifer.

Meanwhile, Draisen admits to Helen that he has been in love with her since they were in school together. 

But Helen isn't interested. Rather, she only loves money which he doesn't have enough of to win her love. 

As Crumb's sites are on Helen and Vince, he and Nikki start investigating the illicit couple. 

Helen and Vince think P.J. will break down and pay the ransom. So, they plot to murder P.J. so Helen will inherit his wealth. 

Vince cuts the brakes on P.J.'s car. However, P.J. lets Crumb borrow it so he can follow Helen and Vince. 

Since the breaks fail, Helen and Vince assume Crumb is chasing them. 

When Crumb crashes P.J.'s car, Harry and Vince think he was trying to kill them, so they put a stop to his investigation. 

But Crumb isn't stopped so easily. The movie is a whodunnit with Crumb thinking one thing while the audience is in on the real goings-on. 

While "Who's Harry Crumb" is unique with Candy given the opportunity to play a variety of characters, some of whom made me laugh, it took effort for me to stay interested. 

Candy is clearly enjoying his role. That's no surprise as it's reminiscent of his sketch comedy from the show SCTV where he got his start. 

Candy does well with what he's given. But the entire film falls short for a comedy. It resorts to throwing Candy around in slapstick situations with dopey humor that's beneath Candy's talent.

Most of the jokes are corny gags and one-liners. It's not as funny as I anticipated. 

I felt like someone was standing off camera with a shotgun pointed at him and demanding he act funny or die! It's a disappointing Candy movie, but I can't blame him for that. 

The film has a solid supporting cast including Annie Potts, Jeffrey Jones, and Tim Thomerson. As talented as these comedians are, they offer little to the movie. They're just...there. It's not their fault. This cast isn't used to their full comedic potential. I especially wanted to see more from Annie Potts. How disappointing.

In one scene on a bus, there's a pointless cameo from James Belushi. He appears and does absolutely nothing but read a newspaper. And then...he's gone. What a waste! 

I didn't care enough about the characters to take interest in what was happening. In fact, I was getting bored waiting for the movie to end. 

John Candy is a comedian unlike any other before or since. He's immensely likeable and truly missed. While the movie showcases Candy's comedic talent rather well, "Who's Harry Crumb?" doesn't live up to his more notable roles.