Delirious (1991)

"This stranger knows no danger. I'm much stranger than you think."

Director
Tom Mankiewicz

Cast
John Candy - Jack Gable
Mariel Hemingway - Janet DuBois/Louise
Emma Samms - Rachel Hedison/Laura Claybourne
Raymond Burr - Carter Hedison
David Rasche - Dr. Paul Kirkwood/Dennis
Charles Rocket - Ty Hedison
Dylan Baker - Blake Hedison
Jerry Orbach - Lou Sherwood
Renée Taylor - Arlene Sherwood

John Candy is a comedic talent that's still sorely missed among fans even 30 years after his death. 

 I love his movies! I have a list of John Candy films I am searching for wherever I might happen to find them. Specifically, I'm looking for the Candy films that don't seem to get the same sort of attention as his more popular movies. Movies such as "Only the Lonely," "The Clown Murders," "Brewster's Millions," "Once Upon a Crime," "Going Berserk," "Armed and Dangerous," and "Canadian Bacon" are the ones I want to get to but can't seem to find fast enough. I happened to find his 1991 romance comedy "Delirious" on the streaming app, Tubi.

I've already reviewed his movies, "Nothing but Trouble," "Summer Rental," and Who's Harry Crumb?" not too long ago on this platform. 

"Delirious" is one of his comedies that should stand out above the rest primarily because of Candy's performance, though the film as a whole was poorly received upon its release. In fact, it was a flop. However, Candy's performance alone deserves a lot of attention. It's a rare gem in that he takes on a romantic lead, albeit not as romantic a lead like he did in the John Hughes movie "Only the Lonely" in which he co-stars with Ally Sheedy and Maureen O'Hara. I cannot wait to get to that movie! 

By the way, speaking of Ally Sheedy, I didn't realize until five minutes ago that she has a cameo in "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York." I completely missed that! But I digress. 

Looking at his filmography, John Candy had quite a year in 1991. He appears in five movies released that year - "Nothing But Trouble," "Career Opportunities," "Only the Lonely," 'Delirious," and Oliver Stone's "JFK." The latter is a cameo in which Candy takes on a serious role. 

In "Delirious" Candy plays the head writer of a soap opera, "Beyond Our Dreams" named Jack Gable. The series takes place in the fictional town of Ashford Falls.

He's deeply immersed in his writing and is attracted to the self-absorbed show's head actress, Laura Claybourne (Emma Samms) who plays the lead role, Rachel Hedison.

When he arrives to work on a rather business-as-usual morning, he bumps into another actress, Louise (Mariel Hemingway) who's there to audition for the role of Janet DuBois. 

Janet is a character Jack is adamantly opposed to. When he catches wind of this character's debut, he takes the issue to the show's co-producers, Lou Sherwood (Jerry Orbach) and Arlene Sherwood (Renée Taylor). 

The Sherwoods respond to Jack's protest by telling him they don't care much, if at all, for his ideas for the series' upcoming season. One of his ideas is to introduce a new character called Jack Gates who'll be a self-centered rich yahoo. 

The late, great John Candy as Jack Gable in "Delirious."

In fact, they want to kill off the lead character, Laura Claybourne. This doesn't make sense. Their decision is based completely on Rachel's ridiculous contract demands. And to ensure they get what they want, Lou and Arlene hire Jack's nemesis in the field, Arnie Fetterman (Milt Oberman) who'll basically do whatever they tell him. The Sherwoods are very set in their ways. 

That weekend, Jack has plans to take a vacation to Vermont. 

Before leaving, Laura calls him crying about breaking up with her boyfriend, Dennis (David Rasche), who happens to play the character, Dr. Paul Kirkwood on "Beyond Our Dreams." She insists on tagging along with Jack on his trip. 

Of course, Jack is all for it since he has feelings for her.

As he tries to pile her luggage into his trunk, he catches her making out with Dennis. It didn't take long for them to make up. 

The trunk then closes on his head pretty hard. Still, he takes off for his trip, and then crashes his car. 

When he wakes up, Jack finds himself in Ashford Falls Hospital. He recognizes the set right away. Dr. Kirkwood is standing over him. Of course, Jack thinks it's a joke, until he leaves the hospital and finds himself in the actual town of Ashford Falls. 

While outside wrapping his head around the situation, he bumps into Janet DuBois. He recognizes her from the office, but she thinks he's actually Jack Gates looking for a weight-loss formula her father developed. Jack insists he's the show's writer which she doesn't believe.

They get into a frustrated argument which ends with her telling him to write his way out of his situation. 

So, that's what he does. Jack pulls out his typewriter and writes a scene for the show in which the local mechanic calls him to say his damaged car is now fixed. As soon as he does, the mechanic calls and tells him his car is fixed. 

In no time, Jack realizes that whatever he writes on his typewriter quickly becomes reality. He can control the flow of events and the actions of the characters around him by simply typing out scenarios. So, Jack uses this incredible gift as a way to pursue Rachel in as epic a way as he can. But the reality he writes out only lasts as long as the scene is written. 

However, it works, and Rachel falls for him despite having a boyfriend. 

Meanwhile, Jack starts developing an attraction to Janet and uses his typewriter to help her avoid some schemes which the wealthy brothers, Blake (Dylan Baker) and Ty Medison (Charles Rocket) are plotting in an attempt acquire the weight loss formula at the behest of their dad, Carter Medison (Raymond Burr). 

The family owns and operates a huge pharmaceutical company which explains why they want this weight loss formula. So, Jack is forced to keep writing scenes to ensure everything plays out the way he deems best. 

Emma Samms and John Candy.

John Candy takes on a romantic lead alongside his funny buddy type of humor and persona. 

His characters are generally easy for audiences to connect with. Candy is just likeable. There's no reason to say it all fancy-like. That's why I've been searching for a bunch of his not-so-talked about movies and watching them when I can. His performance in "Delirious" is no different. 

I was barely interested in everything going on outside of Candy's screen time. 

Everything else, especially the acting, needs polishing. Lots of it. Then again, it's soap opera acting. In that regard, the cast nailed it!

I did get a few laughs out of the jokes both from Candy and from other the actors. 

The movie has potential to be much more memorable than it is. It feels more like a dress rehearsal than a fun, well made comedy. 

Despite what it lacks in the performances, line delivery, and enthusiasm from some of the other actors, "Delirious" barely passes as a movie that deserves an audience, or at least a heart filled cult following. 

Otherwise, the rest of the comedy falls flat too often. 

John Candy really does his Candy best to carry this thing to the end, working with what he's given and with as much enthusiasm and energy as he can. 
It becomes absurd at times which actually works for a comedy like this. But it still strikes me as forced, such as when he gets upset and tosses his typewriter against the wall. 
"Delirious" also feels like a unique twist on the premise seen in "Groundhog Day" which was released in 1993. 

Aside from John Candy, "Delirious" has a respectable cast of notables such as Mariel Hemingway, Raymond Burr, Dylan Baker, Jerry Orbach, Robert Wagner, and an uncredited cameo from Margot Kidder. 
Like I said, some of the jokes got a laugh out of me. The other times, I wondered "what the hell kind of writing is this?" Then again, that's the who point of the movie.