Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)

"Not so fast. I've had my eye on you for a while, lady. I knew you were up to something, and here's my proof: it was you who was having an affair with your husband all along!"

After his daughter has been kidnapped from an exclusive health spa, millionaire P.J Downing (Barry Corbin; Critters 2, The People Across the Lake, Ghost Dad)  turns to his close family friend, Eliot Draisen ( Jeffrey Jones; Beetlejuice, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Easy Money) who happens to be the president of esteemed detective agency, Crumb and Crumb. Unfortunately for Downing, there is nothing esteemed about Harry Crumb (John Candy; Uncle Buck, Armed and Dangerous, Summer Rental), the oafish detective assigned to the case. Harry apparently comes from a long line of great detectives; sadly the genius gene seems to have skipped a generation. You see, Draisen himself is actually the one behind the kidnapping, and putting Harry on the case is only to cover his own ass, figuring he will never solve it anyway.

Crumb may not be the sharpest guy in the business, but nobody seems to have told him that. After meeting the Downing family, he takes spunky young teen Nikki (Shawnee Smith; Iron Eagle, The Blob, Summer School) under his wing in the quest to find her sister, Jennifer. Despite being as thick as two planks, he manages to figure out that the sultry mother, Helen (Annie Potts; Ghostbusters, Pretty in Pink, Jumpin' Jack Flash ) is having an affair with her tennis coach, Vince Barnes (Tim Thomerson; Trancers, Zone Troopers, Near Dark). Crumb, being the brilliant mind that he is, figures Helen has orchestrated the kidnapping in order to elope with the one million dollar reward and Barnes. Despite being off the mark, Helen has been planning on killing her husband in order to receive all his money, and she is now worried that he will pay up to the kidnappers an be penniless. To make things even more confusing, she has also been leading Draisen on, and he believes that when he has the ransom money is his hands she will finally be his...

It's up to Harry and his not-so-clever disguises to get to the bottom of it all, and he has several close calls on his own life in his attempts to break the case. Will he figure out the complicated love triangles? Will he save Jennifer before it's too late? Will he finally live up to his family name and prove to everyone that he can cut it as a detective?

If you are in the right kind of mood, Who's Harry Crumb? is actually quite entertaining. The jokes are a mix of visual gags and pratfalls thrown roughly with some solid one-liners. From his opening scenes, Candy plays up the dumb humour and smashes up as much of the sets as he can in the process. Some of it works, some fall flat; but that's the norm for this kind of comedy. Highlights include; harry driving a new car out of the garage only to have it creamed seconds later, the playing 'footsie' scene at the dinner table, The car ride with no brakes, Harry in disguise as the Hungarian hairdresser and his fat ass stuck in the air vent. Some of the lines of dialogue are laugh-out-loud funny, such as "This shirt cost 34 dollars, and that was with my pro shop discount!" , or when Harry looks at the ransom note and proclaims, "You find that crazy typewriter, and you have your kidnapper!". There is plenty of other comedy gold away from Candy, too. The moments with Tim the butler are hilarious; it's a pity Wesley Mann (My Stepmother is an Alien, L.A Story) isn't in it more. We also get cameos from James Belushi and Joe Flaherty which are always welcome.

Performances are strong throughout. Sporting a strange looking red-haired wig, Candy takes a bit of getting used to here, I have to admit. He generally plays to his strength of the average, hard-done-by working man with a heart, but here he is obnoxious and arrogant. Is he still funny? Sure he is, but the warmth that usually shines through in his roles is sadly absent. It means his character never really learns anything from his errors, and is a buffoon right up to the climax. It leaves the film feeling somewhat lacking, and that is not something I usually say about the larger-than-life Candy. Saying that, he still goes all-out here, and the disguises are good excuses for him to ham it up a bit. The supporting cast is excellent, too. Shawnee Smith is great as the cutesy teen sidekick, and Jeffrey Jones is his usual sneering, sleazy self. The man was great in every supporting role he did, and always brought something good to the table. Annie Potts plays up the sexy black widow role, and it's great to see her playing against type of her more famous 'Janine from Ghostbusters' part. B movie hero Tim Thomerson is also fantastic as the tennis coach lover, he even gets some of the funniest lines.

Sadly, director Paul Flaherty (18 Again!) didn't direct many feature films beyond this. The film looks great, and the action scenes are well done, as are the slapstick performances. The soundtrack is typical 80's stuff, but stick around for the end credits where we get to hear Big Fun (Harry Crumb) by The Temptations played out in all its glory. I really do wish modern comedies carried on the tradition of having a theme song written for the film by bands, it's something I miss quite a bit.

Whilst not being as good as the likes of Fletch, Who's Harry Crumb? still has enough of its own charms to stand out on the video shelf. Non-stop gags, some great cameos and Candy in silly disguises should be more than enough to make you pick this one up. It will clear the cobwebs off any dull Saturday afternoon.