Candy Mountain (1987) User Reviews

quirky, low-key movie

[vincent-27 · 7/10 · 7 August 2002]

This film is probably not for everybody, but if you like slightly surreal off-beat movies (Hal Hartley, Jim Jarmousch, Tom Dicillo) with interesting characters, than check out this movie.

Although it's a little sloppily put together and obviously low budget, the characters are memorable and the performances are authentic. Laurie Metcalfe (from "Roseanne") play her usual way-over-the-top self but pushes even farther over the top here, but it works somehow because it sticks out so oddly against all the other subdued performances. Tom Waits is great as the tacky-clothes-wearing, golf-playing crooner. ("Hell, I got money, look around.") This is one of those anti-hero movies, where everybody is either crazy or an asshole, even the main character and it's really hard to like any of them, but that's the point. Some very funny lines, realistic yet weird situations and touching moments. The ending is pretty weak though. 7/10.

What a cast!

[yomistahman · 7/10 · 17 September 2003]

As a music fanatic I obviously loved this movie. But had it not been for Dr. John, Waits, Redbone and Johansen etc. I would most likely not have given it the time of day.

Got to love it though!

It scores a 7 for the cast, effort and humour.

Some interesting aspects

[nellecat · 5/10 · 9 September 2007]

This film may not be one the best films of it's genre...but it does contain some definite prizes along the way. We see Dr John, wheelchair-bound and speaking in a thick Louisiana accent to his father-in-law over a recorder. There is Leon Redbone playing the guitar accompanied by someone bashing a coat-stand; ''we're creatin'!'' Julias, the main character, played by a very attractive and young Kevin J O'Connor, get's locked up for two days by a couple of isolated nutcases in Canada, a father and son pair claiming to be the local police; it is never quite clear whether they had any legal right to do what they did. The pair are verging on horror film macabre, and though it may not seem like it, are not entirely dissimilar from the sort of unsupervised menace we see in films such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are other various curious characters dotted throughout...and later in the film stunning shots of the Canadian countryside. Also a wonderful performance by one of Canada's best-loved singers, Rita Macneil. The song is really beautiful, and I am yet to find the lyrics or what, if it is at all, album of hers it is to be found on. Julias, a fairly talentless drop-out who has dreams of rekindling his band ''Big Trohble'', promises on a whim some music business veterans that he can trace their long-lost friend and legendary guitar-maker Ellmore Silk. Ellmore, whom Julias does trace, to ''the edge of nowhere'', turns out to be a nasty drunk, untrustworthy and a bit of a bastard. The end doesn't have much to it, and even feels slightly contrived. We can only hope that Julias has grown up a bit from his journey.

I liked it

[bgormley · 7/10 · 26 December 2010]

I liked it so much I actually bought the video and still watch it occasionally. The wonderful cameos make the whole thing worthwhile. Dr John is a riot and I especially love the scene with Robert Blossoms and Leon Redbone where they lock the main character up in jail. Robert Blossoms "you mean he interrupted the flow of money???!!" Then they sing. Leon Redbone is always amazing. I never heard of Blossoms but he was great. Hilarious, but great. And Tom Waits can't help but be interesting. That amazing woman singer, too. Holy cow. I could listen to her over and over. I watch this movie while skipping forward to the good parts. There's a lot of dead weight, but ignore that.

Not as bad as people say...

[Spuzzlightyear · 6/10 · 15 September 2004]

Although filled with some dead air, and the plot just drags on, Candy Mountain can be seen as a mid '80's curio filled with New Wave 80's rock stars (Buster Poindexter! Tom Waits!) and curious cameos (Rita Mcneill???). After being tempted by musical bigshot Poindexter, a struggling musician, (played by Kevin O'Connor, looking all the world like Billie Joe Armstrong) agrees to find a long-thought-dead musician. Off on the road he goes, meeting some wacky people along the way! The acting here is OK, with some on the histronics side. But O'Connor seems to keep things on an even keel. But the problem is, the movie goes on FAR too long, and one senses that even O'Connor was getting tired of the whole thing. Worth a look if you could find it for the curio factor though.

Bow wow.

[StSangue · 2/10 · 4 June 2001]

You would think that a movie with Leon Redbone, Tom Waits, Dr. John, and David Johannsen is going to be one of the best films you've ever seen, right? God, how I looked forward to this. When I finally got to see it, it was like I got kicked in the guts.

Boring, moody, contrived, over stylized, and PRETENTIOUS. The main character is a total dick! There's nothing nice or cool here. It made me want to brush my teeth! Why Leon Redbone, Tom Waits, Dr. John, and David Johannsen allowed themselves to appear in this dog is beyond me.

You know what? Go buy the Johnny Winter album "Third Degree." There are some cool duets between Johnny and Dr. John. If you're a fan of the genre you'll love it, I promise. If you love that album you'll hate this movie.

A little ahead of its time.

[hrare · 8/10 · 24 January 2003]

Moody? yes. Slow? a little. Bow Wow? hardly. Fantastic cast! Who says you can't have a fun movie about a total idiot? Julius is the straight man to life's maddening trickster. Definitely worthwhile for fans of Jarmusch style movie making. Personally I loved it...anyone who's gone after something without knowing quite where will get this. Check out Cold Fever, a similar, but more grown up film about a Japanese tourist in Greenland.

starts out slow

[giantbunny24 · 5/10 · 16 June 2009]

At first I was put off by the bad acting, but eventually I got used to it and was able to suspend my disbelief. The celebrities were the best part. I especially liked the scene with Elmore Silk's sister and brother in law who are in a dysfunctional relationship. I didn't understand the ending, however. Why would he sign a contract like that? That's the worst agreement I've ever heard of. In the end, however entertaining, this is just another of those on the road movies that Hollywood seems to crank out so much. I had a hard time figuring out who Joe Strummer played. Was he the son of the guy that locked him in the jail cell in their house?

Needs glue.

[SteveSkafte · 5/10 · 21 October 2010]

I've seen a few no-budget films before, but "Candy Mountain" really takes the cake. It feels like it was filmed on weekends and vacations with friends and relatives, and no one was paid anything. That might not be entirely true, but it's the impression I got. I watched the movie for Tom Waits, who doesn't have a big part, but is entertaining. Kevin J. O'Connor is good as Julius. All the various cameos are amusing, surely more so if you have a personal familiarity with the actors/musicians. It's a distinctly Canadian story, even though it hints at originating in the states.

The director, Robert Frank, leaves one with the distinct impression that he doesn't know how to make a compelling movie. It's well-intentioned enough, but lethargic as hell. When Julius wakes up to drag himself through another long day, you start to feel about the same as the viewer. If the photography was better, or maybe the silences had more depth and power, it wouldn't seem so sloppy. The pace is maddeningly slow. I got... a bit out of it, I guess. But it's really just not that great. At best, it convinces you that it's real. As for anything beyond that, well, never mind.