Editing Uncle Buck

{{Short description|1989 film by John Hughes}}
{{About|the original film|its 1990 spin-off TV series|Uncle Buck (1990 TV series)|the 2016 series|Uncle Buck (2016 TV series)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Uncle Buck
| image          = Uncle buck.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]]
| producer       = {{ubl|John Hughes|Tom Jacobson}}
| writer         = John Hughes
| starring       = {{Plainlist |<!--Per poster billing-->
* [[John Candy]]
* [[Amy Madigan]]
}}
| music          = [[Ira Newborn]]
| editing        = {{unbulleted list|[[Lou Lombardo (filmmaker)|Lou Lombardo]]|Tony Lombardo|Peck Prior}}
| cinematography = [[Ralf D. Bode]]
| studio         = [[Hughes Entertainment]]
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1989|8|16}}
| runtime        = 100 minutes<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 2, 1989|title=''Uncle Buck'' (12) |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/uncle-buck-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0znda0otk|access-date=July 25, 2024 |website=[[British Board of Film Classification]]}}</ref>
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = $79.2 million
}}
'''''Uncle Buck''''' is a 1989 American [[comedy film]] written and directed by [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]]. It stars [[John Candy]] and [[Amy Madigan]] with [[Jean Louisa Kelly]], [[Laurie Metcalf]], [[Jay Underwood]], [[Macaulay Culkin]], [[Gaby Hoffmann]], [[Elaine Bromka]], and [[Garrett M. Brown]] appearing in supporting roles. The film tells the story of a bachelor who babysits his brother's rebellious teenage daughter and her younger brother and sister while the parents are away. It was released in theatres by [[Universal Pictures]] on August 16, 1989, and grossed $79.2 million.

==Plot==
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
Bob and Cindy Russell have recently moved from [[Indianapolis]] with their three children, 15-year-old Tia, 8-year-old Miles, and 6-year-old Maizy, to the [[Chicagoland|Chicago suburbs]]. Resentful about the move, Tia's relationship with her mother is fraught. One night, Cindy and Bob receive a call from Cindy's aunt informing Cindy that her father has had a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]], Bob and Cindy are reluctantly forced to leave the children in the care of Bob's brother, Buck, who is a [[Binge drinking|heavy drinker]] and [[Chain smoking|smoker]] who makes a living by betting on rigged [[horse races]]. His long-term girlfriend, Chanice, desires to get married and start a family, while Buck wants to retain his freedom and lack of responsibility; Chanice warns him that he will eventually end up alone. 

Buck quickly befriends Miles and Maizy, whom he has never met, but Tia is hostile and rebellious towards him. He settles into the Russell home and learns that he has been cropped out of his brother's wedding photos. Over the next several days, Buck takes the children bowling, ejects a drunken party clown from Miles' birthday party, defends Maizy from her school's strict assistant principal, and washes laundry in the kitchen sink because he cannot operate the washing machine. When Buck meets Tia's obnoxious boyfriend, Bug, he warns her that Bug is only interested in her for sex and repeatedly thwarts her plans to sneak out with him. In retaliation, Tia convinces Chanice that Buck is cheating on her with a neighbor, Marcy. When Chanice walks in on Marcy dancing with Buck, she ends their relationship. Buck laments that people used to envy his carefree life, but he realizes that lifestyle is no longer admirable.

After Tia sneaks out to a party, Buck decides to look for her instead of attending a horse race that would provide him with enough money for the entire year, and begs Chanice to look after Miles and Maizy. At the party, Buck forces open the door to a bedroom where he thinks Bug is taking advantage of Tia, but he finds Bug is with another girl who also seems relucent to be in the room with him. He binds and gags Bug and locks him in his car's trunk, then finds a tearful Tia, who admits Buck was right about Bug. Opening the trunk, Buck forces Bug to apologize to Tia before letting him go. Bug threatens to sue Buck, but Buck hits him with golf balls, causing him to flee in terror.

Tia reconciles with Buck, then mends his relationship with Chanice by admitting she lied and telling Chanice that Buck would make a good husband and father. Buck also agrees to take a steady job at Chanice's auto shop. Bob and Cindy return from Indianapolis after Cindy's father recovers, and Tia surprises her mother with a hug; Cindy promises that their relationship will improve. As he prepares to leave, Buck invites Tia to meet up with him in the city before exchanging a loving goodbye.

==Cast==
<!--Order per end credits-->
* [[John Candy]] as Buck Russell, a bachelor who babysits his older brother's children
* [[Jean Louisa Kelly]] as Tia Russell, the oldest daughter of Bob and Cindy
* [[Gaby Hoffmann]] as Maizy Russell, the youngest daughter of Bob and Cindy
* [[Macaulay Culkin]] as Miles Russell, the only son of Bob and Cindy
* [[Amy Madigan]] as Chanice Kobolowski, Buck's girlfriend and proprietor of a tire shop
* [[Elaine Bromka]] as Cindy Russell, the wife of Bob
* [[Garrett M. Brown]] as Bob Russell, the older brother of Buck and husband of Cindy
* [[Laurie Metcalf]] as Marcy Dahlgren-Frost
* [[Jay Underwood]] as Bug, Tia's boyfriend
* [[Brian Tarantina]] as E. Roger Coswell, a friend of Buck
* [[Mike Starr (actor)|Mike Starr]] as Pooter-the-Clown, a birthday clown 
* [[Suzanne Shepherd]] as Mrs. Hogarth, the assistant principal of Maizy's school
* [[William Windom (actor)|William Windom]] as Mr. Hatfield, the voice of the unseen neighbor of the Russells who Buck accidentally awakens upon his arrival
* Dennis Cockrum as Pal
* [[Anna Chlumsky]] as one of Maizy's unnamed classmates

Notable additional voices were provided by [[Patricia Arquette]], [[Jack Blessing]], [[Leigh French]], and [[Julie Payne (actress, born 1946)|Julie Payne]].

==Production==
The film was the first one directed, written, and produced by [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]] under a multi-picture agreement deal with [[Universal Pictures|Universal]]. Filming began on January 4, 1989, in Chicago.<ref name="UBAFI">{{cite web| title=Uncle Buck (1989)| url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/58338| website=catalog.afi.com| access-date=March 8, 2024}}</ref> The company decided to keep the production facilities and locations as close as possible. The vacant [[New Trier High School]] in [[Northfield, Illinois|Northfield]], [[Illinois]], was chosen for the production facility. Three of its gyms were converted into sound stages on which several sets were constructed including the two-levelled interior of the Russell House, Buck's bedroom, and smaller sets.<ref name="UBAFI" /> The school was also equipped to suit the needs of the cast and crew behind-the-scenes, with classrooms for the young actors, offices, dressing rooms, a wardrobe department, editing facilities, a special effects shop, equipment storage areas, and a projection booth. 

Production designer [[John Corso]] began designing the sets in October 1988 and within seven weeks his construction crew of twelve carpenters and five painters began work on the two levels of the Russell house. The elementary school corridor, the boys' restroom, the principal's office, and a classroom were filmed at Wilmette's Romona Elementary School. A colonial-style house in [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]] was chosen for the exterior of the Russell house. The exteriors and practical locations were shot in Chicago, [[Cicero, Illinois|Cicero]], [[Skokie, Illinois|Skokie]], [[Northbrook, Illinois|Northbrook]], [[Wilmette, Illinois|Wilmette]], [[Winnetka, Illinois|Winnetka]], [[Glencoe, Illinois|Glencoe]], and [[Riverwoods, Illinois|Riverwoods]].<ref name="UBAFI" />

==Reception==
===Box office===
The film earned $8.8 million on its opening weekend in 1,804 theatres and was placed No. 1 at the box office.<ref>{{cite web|date=August 23, 1989|title='Uncle Buck' Is No. 1 At the Movie Box Office|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/23/movies/uncle-buck-is-no-1-at-the-movie-box-office.html?src=pm|access-date=October 22, 2011|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The film stayed in first place for three more weeks before being bumped down to second by ''[[Sea of Love (film)|Sea of Love]]''. Its US earnings were 18th in 1989, and the film has earned nearly $80 million worldwide since its release.<ref>{{cite web|title=Uncle Buck (1989)|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=unclebuck.htm|work=Box Office Mojo}}</ref>

===Critical reception===
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|59|5.9|27|consensus=''Uncle Buck'' has its ups and downs, but there's undeniable comedic magic that comes from uniting John Hughes, John Candy, and a house full of precocious kids.|access-date=February 24, 2025|ref=y}} {{Metacritic film prose|51|12|ref=yes|access-date=July 25, 2024}}

[[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film a score of one and a half out of four, writing that ''Uncle Buck'' was unusually bitter and angry for a Hughes movie: "...Hughes is usually the master of the right note, the right line of dialogue, and this time there's an uncomfortable undercurrent in the material".<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 19, 1989|author-link=Roger Ebert|last=Ebert|first=Roger|title=Uncle Buck movie review & film summary (1989) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/uncle-buck-1989|access-date=October 27, 2020|website=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|via=[[RogerEbert.com]]}}</ref>

==Television series and remake ==
{{Main|Uncle Buck (1990 TV series)|Uncle Buck (2016 TV series)}}
A television series was broadcast on [[CBS]] in 1990. It starred [[Kevin Meaney]] as Buck, a slob who drinks and smokes. When Bob and Cindy die in a car accident, he is named the guardian of Tia, Miles, and Maizy. The show was not received well by TV critics. After it was moved to Friday, in an attempt by CBS to establish a comedy night there, its ratings quickly plummeted and it was cancelled.

In June 2016, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] premiered a second television adaptation featuring an African-American cast with [[Mike Epps]] in the title role, [[James Lesure]] as his brother, and [[Nia Long]] as Buck's sister-in-law. It suffered a similar fate as the previous TV adaptation, as it was poorly received by critics and then cancelled after eight episodes.<ref>{{cite web
| url        = https://deadline.com/2016/07/uncle-buck-will-not-return-season-2-abc-cancelled-1201783204/
| title      = 'Uncle Buck' Canceled By ABC After One Season
| work       = [[Deadline Hollywood]]
| last1      = Petski
| first1     = Denise
| date       = July 6, 2016
| access-date = November 13, 2018
}}</ref> In 1991, the film was remade in [[Malayalam]] language and released as ''[[Uncle Bun]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hutchinson|first=Sean|date=2017-09-11 |title=15 Fun Facts About ''Uncle Buck'' |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59491/15-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-uncle-buck |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=[[Mental Floss]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Film|United States|1980s}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{tcmdb title}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|uncle_buck|Uncle Buck}}
* {{mojo title|unclebuck|Uncle Buck}}

{{Uncle Buck}}
{{John Hughes}}

[[Category:Uncle Buck (franchise)]]
[[Category:1989 films]]
[[Category:1989 comedy films]]
[[Category:American comedy films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films about families]]
[[Category:Films scored by Ira Newborn]]
[[Category:Films adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Films directed by John Hughes (filmmaker)]]
[[Category:Films produced by John Hughes (filmmaker)]]
[[Category:Films set in Chicago]]
[[Category:Films shot in Illinois]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by John Hughes (filmmaker)]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films about siblings]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]