Want to know the best John Candy movies? How about the worst John Candy movies? Curious about John Candy’s box office grosses or which John Candy movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which John Candy movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which ones got the worst reviews? Well, you have come to the right place…. because we have all of that information.
John Candy (1950-1994) was one of Canada’s greatest and funniest character actors. While most of his roles fall in the supporting category…he did manage to be the lead actor in some quality movies too…can you say Only the Lonely and Planes, Trains & Automobiles? His IMDb page shows 69 acting credits from 1971 to 1995. This page will rank John Candy movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in North American theaters were not included in the rankings.
Drivel Part: (That is what my wife calls this part of the page). It has been a shocking 31 years since John Candy passed away. I am old enough that I saw 9 of the movies in the following table in movie theaters. In my house, John Candy has become synonymous with Thanksgiving. Every year without exception, we watch Candy’s best movie, Planes, Trains & Automobiles. So, with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I felt it was the perfect time (actually the wife said do it now or wait until next Thanksgiving) to take a good look at the movie career of John Candy. He might be gone…. but he lives on with the many excellent movies he left behind.
John Candy Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
John Candy Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Column is the name of the John Candy movie and a link to that movie’s trailer
- Sort by John Candy movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort John Candy movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort John Candy movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort John Candy movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each John Candy movie received.
- Sort John Candy movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | JFK (1991) AA Best Picture Nom |
Kevin Costner | 70.40 | 209.0 | 609.90 | 17 | 81 | 08 / 02 | 99.2 | |
| 2 | Splash (1984) | Tom Hanks | 69.80 | 259.8 | 259.80 | 10 | 78 | 01 / 00 | 96.9 | |
| 3 | National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) | Chevy Chase & Directed by Harold Ramis |
61.40 | 243.6 | 243.60 | 12 | 79 | 00 / 00 | 96.9 | |
| 4 | Stripes (1981) | Bill Murray & Harold Ramis |
85.30 | 383.5 | 383.50 | 5 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 96.6 | |
| 5 | The Blues Brothers (1980) | John Belushi & Dan Aykroyd |
57.20 | 275.1 | 275.10 | 11 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 96.5 | |
| 6 | Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) | Steve Martin | 49.50 | 158.3 | 158.30 | 22 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 94.9 | |
| 7 | Cool Runnings (1993) | Doug E. Doug | 68.90 | 207.9 | 467.60 | 15 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 94.3 | |
| 8 | Home Alone (1990) | Macaulay Culkin | 285.80 | 844.4 | 1,577.30 | 1 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 93.5 | |
| 9 | Uncle Buck (1989) | Macaulay Culkin | 66.80 | 210.2 | 210.20 | 18 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 92.4 | |
| 10 | Little Shop of Horrors (1986) | Bill Murray & Steve Martin |
38.70 | 130.6 | 130.60 | 26 | 83 | 02 / 00 | 91.9 | |
| 11 | Spaceballs (1987) | Mel Brooks & Bill Pullman |
38.10 | 121.9 | 121.90 | 31 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 85.8 | |
| 12 | Heavy Metal (1981) Voice Only |
Harold Ramis | 26.50 | 119.0 | 119.00 | 29 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 81.9 | |
| 13 | Rookie of the Year (1993) | Gary Busey | 53.60 | 161.9 | 161.90 | 22 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 80.7 | |
| 14 | Brewster's Millions (1985) | Richard Pryor | 40.80 | 143.8 | 143.80 | 20 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 80.1 | |
| 16 | 1941 (1979) | Dan Aykroyd & John Belushi |
31.80 | 158.1 | 460.40 | 27 | 43 | 03 / 00 | 78.9 | |
| 15 | Follow That Bird (1985) | Chevy Chase | 14.00 | 49.2 | 49.20 | 64 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 78.6 | |
| 18 | The Great Outdoors (1988) | Dan Aykroyd & Annette Bening |
41.50 | 126.1 | 126.10 | 25 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 77.5 | |
| 17 | The Rescuers Down Under (1990) Voice Only |
Bob Newhart & George C. Scott |
27.90 | 82.5 | 82.50 | 41 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 77.2 | |
| 19 | Only the Lonely (1991) | Maureen O'Hara | 21.80 | 64.8 | 64.80 | 60 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 67.4 | |
| 20 | The Silent Partner (1978) | Elliott Gould & Christopher Plummer |
0.90 | 5.0 | 5.00 | 131 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 65.5 | |
| 21 | John Candy: I Like Me (2025) Amazon |
Directed by Colin Hanks | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 200 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 63.8 | |
| 22 | Volunteers (1985) | Tom Hanks | 19.90 | 70.0 | 70.00 | 45 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 54.3 | |
| 23 | Tunnel Vision (1976) | Chevy Chase | 13.20 | 77.4 | 77.40 | 51 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 53.5 | |
| 24 | Summer Rental (1985) | Joey Lawrence | 24.70 | 86.9 | 86.90 | 35 | 40 | 00 / 00 | 44.8 | |
| 25 | Career Opportunities (1991) Cameo |
Frank Whaley & Jennifer Connelly |
11.30 | 33.7 | 33.70 | 89 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 38.0 | |
| 26 | It Came From Hollywood (1982) | Dan Aykroyd | 2.60 | 10.9 | 10.90 | 111 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 30.4 | |
| 27 | Lost and Found (1979) | George Segal & Glenda Jackson |
3.20 | 16.1 | 16.10 | 92 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 25.5 | |
| 28 | Who's Harry Crumb? (1989) | Annie Potts | 11.00 | 34.6 | 34.60 | 77 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 22.9 | |
| 29 | Delirious (1991) | Mariel Hemingway | 5.50 | 16.5 | 16.50 | 119 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 21.0 | |
| 31 | Armed and Dangerous (1986) | Meg Ryan & Eugene Levy |
20.00 | 67.3 | 67.30 | 44 | 33 | 00 / 00 | 19.0 | |
| 30 | Going Berserk (1983) | Eugene Levy | 0.40 | 1.4 | 1.40 | 145 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 17.3 | |
| 32 | Cannonball Fever (1989) | Peter Boyle | 3.10 | 9.7 | 9.70 | 130 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 11.0 | |
| 33 | Once Upon a Crime (1992) | James Belushi | 8.70 | 26.1 | 26.10 | 100 | 39 | 00 / 00 | 10.3 | |
| 34 | Double Negative (1980) | Anthony Perkins | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 202 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 6.6 | |
| 35 | Find The Lady (1976) | Mickey Rooney | 0.50 | 2.7 | 2.70 | 155 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 6.0 | |
| 36 | Hot to Trot (1988) Voice Only |
Bobcat Goldthwait | 6.40 | 19.6 | 19.60 | 113 | 37 | 00 / 00 | 6.0 | |
| 37 | Wagons East (1994) | Richard Lewis | 4.40 | 13.5 | 13.50 | 143 | 37 | 00 / 00 | 4.6 | |
| 38 | The Clown Murders (1976) | Stephen Young | 0.30 | 1.8 | 1.80 | 159 | 37 | 00 / 00 | 2.6 | |
| 39 | Canadian Bacon (1995) | Directed by Michael Moore | 0.20 | 0.5 | 0.50 | 233 | 36 | 00 / 00 | 2.3 | |
| 40 | Nothing But Trouble (1991) | Chevy Chase & Dan Aykroyd |
8.50 | 25.2 | 25.20 | 105 | 28 | 00 / 00 | 2.2 | |
| 41 | It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time (1975) | Yvonne De Carlo | 0.20 | 0.9 | 0.90 | 155 | 34 | 00 / 00 | 1.6 |
Possibly Interesting Facts About John Candy
1. John Candy was born in 1950 in Newmarket, Ontario.
2. John Candy first gained notoriety as a cast member of Toronto-based comedy-variety show Second City Television (SCTV).
3. John Candy appeared in more John Hughes movies than any other actor, starring or doing cameos in seven of them: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), The Great Outdoors (1988), Uncle Buck (1989), Home Alone (1990) and appears in a cameos in She’s Having a Baby (1988) and Career Opportunities (1991).
4. John Candy was married one time. He was married to Rosemary Margaret Hobor from 1979 to his death in 1994. They had two children…..actress Jennifer Candy and actor Chris Candy.
5. John Candy was a co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
6. John Candy sat in the front row for Super Bowl XXIII. According to legend, right before the 49ers game-winning drive, quarterback Joe Montana pointed toward the stands and said to tackle Harris Barton, “Hey look over there. Isn’t that John Candy?”.
7. John Candy was entombed in the mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. His crypt lies just above fellow actor Fred MacMurray.
8. John Candy, my older boys and Nothing But Trouble (1991). Although Nothing But Trouble might be John Candy’s worst movie (he got a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor)…my sons loved Nothing But Trouble. They literally wore out the VHS tape that we owned and we had to replace it with a new VHS tape. Even today when I mention Nothing But Trouble…..the movie generates a smile from my boys.
9. John Candy turned down the Rick Moranis’ role in Ghostbusters (1984). Candy on that….”I should have been in Ghostbusters”.
10. Check out John Candy‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Wow another year gone by. Hope all is well with the Cogerson Clan. My clan is now 4 big. My husband and now two children. Have many memories of reading UltimateMovieRankings.com with my mom. Happy Thanksgiving.
Hey Helakoski….(1) Thanks for the Thanksgiving wishes. (2) Congrats on the second child. (3) Glad you have fond moments of UMR with your mom. I was certainly thinking about members of my family that are no longer with us, yesterday. Have a great holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving to the Cogerson/UMR Family
First of all…I hope Thanksgiving 2021 was a great one…sorry, Helakoski that I took a year to respond to that.
I swear John Candy was my favorite actor of all time! Loved all of his movies! Uncle Buck & The Great Outdoors are still on the top our families list! It broke our hearts to lose him so young & Still every time I see that wave of his, Just lifting his hand up in the air & that sweet smile of his! It just makes our hearts smile back!! He will always be with us!! God Bless John Candy & his family!! What a blessing his family must have been, allowing us to share time with their Dad on the big screen❣️❤️ What an amazing & talented actor‼️
Happy Thanksgiving Bruce and the Cogerson Clan!
I watched Planes, Trains and Automobiles a few weeks ago on Tivo. Still funny, and sad, but with a happy ending. 🙂
Hey Steve….hope all is well. Hard to believe Xmas is right around the corner.
The Church of Uncle Buck!
Hey Daniel…..sounds like a fun church.