| Canadian Bacon | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Michael Moore |
| Written by | Michael Moore |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Haskell Wexler |
| Edited by |
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| Music by |
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Production |
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| Distributed by | Gramercy Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes[2] |
| Countries | United States Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $11 million[3] |
| Box office | $178,104[4] |
Canadian Bacon is a 1995 comedy film written, produced, and directed by Michael Moore which satirizes Canada–United States relations along the Canada–United States border.[5] The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Alan Alda, John Candy (in his final film role), Bill Nunn, Kevin J. O'Connor, Rhea Perlman, Kevin Pollak, G. D. Spradlin, and Rip Torn. It tells the story of a struggling President who is persuaded by his confidantes to fight with Canada, when a local sheriff and his friends get involved.
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival,[6] and was the final film released starring John Candy, though it was shot before the earlier-released Wagons East as both films are dedicated in memory of him. It is also Moore's only non-documentary film to date.[7]
InNiagara Falls, New York, thousands of former employees are outraged with military businessman R. J. Hacker having closed down his weapons manufacturing plant, Hacker Dynamics. Local sheriff Bud Boomer and his deputy/girlfriend Honey then prevent a despondent former Hacker employee, Roy Boy, from committing suicide at Niagara Falls.
At a conference held at Hacker Dynamics, Hacker pins the blame for the shutdown of his business on the President of the United States, who has just arrived. The President defends his own belief that the future of the children is more important than war which has caused major decline in his approval rating.
After the press conference, The President confides in General Dick Panzer and National Security Advisor Stuart Smiley (who is revealed to have ties with Hacker) that he's unhappy about not having an enemy to engage with. An attempted negotiation with Russian President Vladimir Kruschkin to start a new cold war with Russia fails and the President's suggestion of a war on international terrorism is deemed too absurd.
Later that night, Bud Boomer offensively criticizes Canadian beer while attending a hockey game with Honey, Roy Boy, and deputy sheriff Kabral Jabar between the neighboring nations in Niagara Falls, Ontario causing a brawl to break out. The ensuing riot ends up on the news the next day and catches Stuart's attention which led to everyone getting detained overnight. In turn, Stuart collects more information about Canada from a CIA agent named Gus and suggests Canada as their new enemy during a cabinet meeting.
Before long, U.S. television channels are littered with anti-Canada propaganda which Boomer believes wholeheartedly. He prepares for war by distributing guns to his fellow sheriffs, Honey, Roy Boy, and Kabral Jabar. He also helps form a local militia. After they apprehend a group of Americans "dressed as Canadians" attempting to destroy a hydroelectric plant despite Gus's protests that they are just Americans, they sneak across the border to litter on Canadian lands which leads to Honey being arrested by the Mounties. In a rescue attempt, Boomer, Roy Boy, and Kabral sneak into a Canadian power plant and cause a countrywide blackout. When the President learns of this, Stuart orders the Omega Force to remove Boomer from Canada before it is too late.
Seeking revenge on the President for shutting down his business, Hacker uses a software program ("Hacker Hellstorm") to activate missile silos across the country. The President learns that the signal causing the activation of the silos originated from Canada, and summons Hacker. Hacker offers to sell a program to the President that can cancel out the Hellstorm—for $1 trillion. Fed up with the President being too busy to give Hacker the money, Stuart realizes that Hacker, getting up to leave, is the one controlling the silos, not Canada. After storming up, Stuart takes the operating codes from him required to stop the Hellstorm while accidentally killing Hacker in the process. The still busy President orders Stuart's arrest despite his protests that he is now able to give the codes to the President so they could deactivate the missiles which are aimed at Moscow. As the US government loses contact with Omega Force and as the launch time approaches, the President pleads with Canadian Prime Minister Clark MacDonald over the phone to stop the launch.
Meanwhile, Honey was taken to a hospital upon her capture and escaped all the way to the CN Tower. She discovers the central computer for the Hellstorm and destroys it with a machine gun, aborting the launch sequence. Honey then reunites with Boomer and they return to the United States on a speedboat. Before the final shot of Boomer and Honey's speedboat unknowingly heading towards the waterfall is shown, an epilogue reveals the characters' fates:
Moore was inspired by the pro-war sentiment and 90% approval rating for President George H. W. Bush at the time of the Gulf War and wondered if the president could gain public support for war on any country, even Canada.[9][10]
The film was shot in fall 1993,[11]inToronto, Hamilton, and Niagara Falls, Ontario; and Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York.[12] Scenes depicting the rapids of the Niagara River were actually filmed at Twelve Mile CreekinSt. Catharines. Parkwood EstateinOshawa was the site for the White House,[13] and Dofasco in Hamilton was the site for Hacker Dynamics. The scene where the American characters look longingly home at the US across the putative Niagara River is them looking across Burlington BayatStelco steelworks in Hamilton, Ontario.
The hockey game and riot were shot at the Niagara Falls Memorial Arena in Niagara Falls, Ontario,[14] and the actors portraying the police officers (who eventually join in the riot upon hearing "Canadian beer sucks") are wearing authentic Niagara Regional Police uniforms.[15]
Originally, Polygram had arranged for the film to be released by MGM in the fall of 1994. However, Polygram later started its own distribution company, Gramercy, with Universal Pictures in the summer of 1993, and battled with MGM to get the distribution rights back from them.[16] Gramercy ultimately gave the film a limited release in 1995 before essentially taking it straight to video. Today, MGM now owns the film through their acquisition of the pre-1996 Polygram library.
The film has numerous cameos by Canadian actors, including Dan Aykroyd, who appears uncredited as an Ontario Provincial Police officer who pulls Candy over (not for the crude anti-Canadian graffiti on his truck, but its lack of a French translation; Boomer dutifully sprays his truck in French graffiti).[8] Moore himself appears as an American gun nut. Cameo pictures of Canadian-American American actors in Propaganda are Michael J. Fox; Lorne Greene and Alex Trebek.[17]
Canadian Bacon received unfavorable reviews by critics.[18][5][19]OnRotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 17% based on reviews from 18 critics.[20]
The A.V. Club'sNathan Rabin in a 2009 review concluded, "After generating solid laughs during its first hour, Canadian Bacon falls apart in its third act," lamenting the film "was perceived as too lowbrow for the highbrows, and too highbrow for the lowbrows."[8]
Could the president just name any country as the new enemy? Would the American public just fall into step behind him and support the war? And I thought, 'What would be the most absurd example of that?' And I came up with Canada.
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