Delirious (1991) starring John Candy, Mariel Hemingway, Emma Samms, Raymond Burr, Dylan Baker
Synopsis of Delirious
In short, Delirious deals with the head writer of a soap opera (John Candy) who gets knocked on the head and imagines that he’s in his soap opera. He further imagines that he can change the behavior of the people there by his writing. In real life, he has a crush on the self-absorbed leading lady. He learns that she isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. But possibly someone else is …
Review of Delirious
In short, when Delirious is spoofing the soap opera genre, it’s absolutely hilarious. And when it’s not, it’s not. In all, Delirious is enjoyable – not the funniest comedy of all time, but definitely funny and worth watching.
John Candy is funny is Delirious. I give him kudos for giving many of the funniest moments to the other members of the cast. Many comedians aren’t brave enough to do it, but he did – and the movie is funnier because of it. Possibly that’s why the Amazon review (see below) was unpleased. But my opinion is different. Watch the movie for yourself and make your own decision. I rate Delirious 3 stars out of 5.
Cast
- John Candy (Spaceballs)
- Mariel Hemingway (Star 80)
- Emma Sands (Dynasty)
- Raymond Burr (Godzilla, Bride of the Gorilla)
- Dylan Baker (Happiness)
- Charles Rocket (Dumb and Dumber)
- Jerry Orbach (Law and Order, Aladdin and the King of Thieves)
- David Rasche (Sledgehammer)
Editorial review of Delirious courtesy of Amazon.com
You keep waiting for what should be a wild comedy to really take off, but this film sputters along without truly achieving liftoff. John Candy plays a writer for a TV soap opera whose life is as lovelorn as his show is packed with passion. A bump on the head, however, and it’s Wizard of Oz time–except that Candy is now trapped in the world of his soap, with the advantage of knowing everyone’s secrets, as well as what’s going to happen next. Better yet, he’s able to strike romantic sparks with characters whose actors (in real life) won’t give him the time of day. But cuddly Candy isn’t much of a romantic lead and the writing is too flat to let him really shine, even among a cast that includes Raymond Burr, David Rasche, and Emma Samms. —Marshall Fine