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.
I’ve always had soft spot for him as Barf in Spaceballs 🙂
Hey Benjamin….his Barf is one of the best parts of Spaceballs….thanks for checking out my John Candy movie page.
Interesting. I think seeing some of his movies that he barely appears in so high is misleading. Blues Brothers 3rd? I do not even remember his part in that one. I think if you look at his leading roles the cream of the crop surface.
My top 3:
-Planes Trains & Automobiles
-The Great Outdoors
-Uncle Buck
Bottom line…I think ‘Planes Trains & Automobiles is his most memorable film and it’s one of the most memorable comedies out there in general for that matter.
Hey Anonymous…thanks for stopping by. When figuring out if I should include the Candy movie or not…I went with IMDb’s thinking….if they listed the role as uncredited or cameo..I did not include the movie. Career Opportunities and She’s Having A Baby got those tags. The Blues Brothers did not …so I included the movie. Of your Top 3…..I liked Planes and Uncle Buck…was not a huge fan of The Great Outdoors. I agree with you 100% about Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Thanks for the John Candy movie thoughts.
I watch Planes Trains Automobiles every year myself. This article gets me motivated to watch some of my other favorite JC movies. Cool Runnings, Uncle Buck and Delirious. I thought he was Oscar-worthy in P T & A with the “I like me” speech being the highlight. A wonderful look at his movie career.
Hey Stewie G…..glad to know others are watching P T & A every Turkey Day too. I agree with you about his performance in that movie. His “I like me” speech is one of the best scenes in the movie and showed that Candy could do some good drama too. Glad you liked my Candy page.
I have very fond memories of John Candy. His shower curtain salesman is how I like to think he was off screen. So sad about this passing away at 44. Keep up the good work.
Hey John Fan….I too have very fond memories of Mr. Candy. I agree that his “Del Griffith” role in Planes,Trains & Cars seems to be how Candy was off screen. 44 is way too young. Thanks for stopping by.
Recently watched Nothing But Trouble
Not sure which is stranger….that you own Nothing But Trouble on DVD or that you recently re-watched it for the 1000th time. Thanks for checking out this John Candy page.