Ryan Reynolds is producing a doc about Canadian comedy legend John Candy—and it’s opening TIFF
Finally, the late great Toronto comedian gets his flowers
When Ryan Reynolds introduced his Tim Hortons breakfast box collaboration last month, it felt like peak CanCon. But, now, the Vancouver-born actor is one-upping himself: his new documentary, John Candy: I Like Me, has been announced as TIFF 2025’s opening-night selection.
Reynolds is the producer on the project, and it was directed by Colin Hanks. While Hanks isn’t Canadian, he does have some pretty incontestable Candy bona fides: his dad, Tom Hanks, starred with Candy in the aquatic rom-com Splash. (We’ll never forget Eugene Levy’s turn as the mermaid truther who throws a bucket of water on Daryl Hannah.)
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Reynolds, a lifelong John Candy fan, has been working on this film for a decade. Deadpool 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine both feature Planes, Trains and Automobiles easter eggs. And the subtitle of the new documentary—I Like Me—is a reference to Candy’s famous speech in that beloved movie.
The doc will include footage and interviews chronicling Candy’s prolific career as well as intimate behind-the-scenes footage from his early days in Toronto. (A snapshot accompanying TIFF’s announcement showed a young Candy wearing a Leafs jersey. Reynolds, on the other hand, is an Ottawa Senators man, but we assume he let it slide.) There’s no word on which famous Candy collaborators will appear, but the old SCTV gang seems like a pretty solid bet.
TIFF is celebrating 50 years this September, and the opening night selection ticks all the boxes: a project that is star-studded, buzzy and unabashedly Canadian means the festival doesn’t have to choose between patriotic programming and acclaim. For Reynolds, it’s a chance to show his home and native land even more love—and to introduce a whole new generation to a made-in-Canada comedy legend.
On Instagram, Reynolds said he’s excited to launch a global John Candy moment come fall. Anyone up for an Uncle Buck rewatch while we wait?
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Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
