Tear Jerker / Uncle Buck

• The scene of Buck looking through the family's photographs, and we're treated to several instances where Buck had been edited out (for example, standing next to his brother at the latter's wedding, in which the photo had been folded to hide him from view). Clearly at one point Buck had a much better relationship with his family and something happened to cause a later falling out.
• Buck's drunken monologue to the family dog reveals the Hidden Depths and loneliness he's carrying around. He talks about how, when he was younger, all of his friends praised and envied him for his carefree lifestyle—no desk job, no wife, no family...but things take a turn for the tearful when Buck comments, "Nobody says that anymore." It's a reminder of the darker side of being a Manchild—after a while, everyone grows up around you, and you're left alone.
  • This is further emphasised when he calls Chanice to watch Miles and Maizy, despite the fact that she has declared that their relationship is over. At the start of the film, Buck says that he likes his friends. These "friends" are also the "trashy people" that Cindy describes when arguing with Bob. The fact that he called Chanice of all people reflects how even Buck wouldn't trust his own "trashy friends" to look after his nieces and nephew — he really had no-one else to turn to responsibly.
• Buck finds himself at his lowest when he looks in the rear-view mirror and reflects just what he's about to do: he's letting Tia go to a party knowing she could get herself into all sorts of trouble with Bug if she goes, and he's taking Miles and Maizy to a race track. The look on his face says it all.
• Whether it's some flavour of attempted or actual rape or Bug attempting to press her into having sex and her being dumped when she refuses, whatever happens to Tia to find her wandering the streets with tears in her eyes when Buck goes looking for her is upsetting. Fortunately, it quickly shifts to a heartwarming moment, then to outright funny.
• During the reconciliation scene in the car, Buck finally admits why he's been so hard on Tia: he knows that he screwed up his own teenage years and wishes that someone had given him the Tough Love he needed, so he's trying to make up for it with her. It's a reminder of the Sad Clown tendencies that Buck is hiding—he's aware of his own flaws and genuinely doesn't know how to fix them, leaving him feeling powerless to change. Thankfully, Tia could help him mend fences with Chanice and start moving forward in life.