A 1991 American romantic dramedy film written and directed by Chris Columbus, about a middle-aged Chicago cop (John Candy) who's struggling with his relationships with his overbearing mother (Maureen O'Hara) and a shy funeral home worker (Ally Sheedy).
The cast also includes Anthony Quinn, James Belushi, Kevin Dunn, Macaulay Culkin, Kieran Culkin, Milo O'Shea, Bert Remsen, and Joe Greco.
It was released on May 24, 1991.
Tropes for the film:
- Brutal Honesty: Rose doesn't hold back when giving her opinions, justifying this by claiming she's "just telling it like it is".
- Dying Alone: This is the fate of Doyle. In addition, only three people show up at his funeral. When Danny asks if they should wait for other mourners, he's told by Nick that there isn't anybody else.
- Greedy Jew: Rose torpedoed her husband's chance at a huge deal because she believed this, by throwing anti-Semitic slurs around casually during a dinner meeting with a prominent Jewish businessman.Danny: Oh, the dinner went great! Until you started calling Dad's bosses "filthy Jewish shylocks"!Rose: Well, they'd never given him a raise! Not once in twelve years!Rose: Well, how was I to know? They didn't look Jewish.Danny: No, Ma. You're just telling it like it is.
- Last Request: Two guys steal the body of a deceased individual from the local funeral home handling his services and take him to their favorite bar for a last drink, claiming the deceased told them to do that after he died. When they arrive they find they are unable to pour the drink into the deceased like they said the deceased wanted. The funeral director arrives a few seconds later to confront the two men and they accuse the director of sewing the deceased's lips shut. This is Truth in Television as the muscles that enable people to hold their mouths shut in life relax following death, causing their mouths to hang open. In the majority of cases involving viewings embalmers tie the jaws of the deceased shut and set the deceased's lips so they appear as if they are sleeping with their mouths closed during viewings.
- My Beloved Smother: Rose is this for Danny.
- Runaway Bride: The movie tweaks this point in which right before the wedding, Danny and Theresa have a falling out the night before the wedding over Danny's relationship with his mother and Theresa storms off. The next day, NEITHER of them attend the wedding, having seemingly deemed their relationship unworkable and deciding to move on with their lives. The couple does end up together, but only after Danny clears out his personal problems and chases down Theresa as she leaves Chicago. There is no second wedding shown.
- Tagline: "The Man, The Woman, The Mother".
- The Remake: Of Marty. The biggest difference being that the protagonist is Irish-American rather than Italian-American.
- Titled After the Song: Comes from the song by Roy Orbison.
