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Only the Lonely Photos
Movie Info
Rose (Maureen O'Hara) dearly loves her adult son, Danny (John Candy) -- but when Danny meets Theresa (Ally Sheedy) and falls deeply in love, Ruth feels threatened. Desperate not to lose her son to the shy young woman, Ruth uses dirty tactics to keep the two apart. Danny is perplexed as to what he should do, so he consults his friends Patrick (Kevin Dunn) and Sal (James Belushi), who give him some skewed advice. Now Danny is torn between what his loved ones advise, and what his heart tells him.
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Rating: PG-13
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Genre: Romance, Comedy
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Original Language: English
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Director: Chris Columbus
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Producer: John Hughes, Hunt Lowry
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Writer: Chris Columbus
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Release Date (Theaters): original
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $19.9M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: 20th Century Fox
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Production Co: Hughes Entertainment, 20th Century Fox
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Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SR, Stereo
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Aspect Ratio: 35mm
Cast & Crew
Critic Reviews for Only the Lonely
Audience Reviews for Only the Lonely
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Here's an odd rom-com given the age of the participants but it kind of works due to the cast who finally bring in this baby. John Candy works hard to sell the opening premise of the piece, that of a bachelor at 40 still tied to his mother's apron strings, and a cop no less, and he very nearly pulls it off. Ally Sheedy does well as the woman of his dreams, and Jim Belushi adequately carries the best friend part. Maureen O'Hara shines as one battle-ax of an Irish ma. The writing though is uneven, failing the intended sentiments and keeping this from being a Valentine to remember.
kevin w Super Reviewer -
A fairly solid, if unspectacular, romantic comedy that probably won't stick with you for a long time shortly afterwards. While it's certainly better than I would've expected, I wasn't really excited about the film going into it, it played out almost exactly the way I would've expected. It's one of those cliched rom-coms that Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake made fun of in Friends with Benefits. It's got a silly plot and sitcom-y moments, but I think it works, for the most part, thanks to John Candy's immense likability and an inspired casting choice in Maureen O'Hara. O'Hara simply steals the show here with her insults and her overbearing personality, refusing to let her son lead his own life without making him feel guilty about it. This actually leads to some of the funniest moments in the film where Danny, after going against his mother's wishes, has visions of what would happen to her if, for example, he doesn't go to bingo with her. She'd be walking through the really bad part of the neighborhood and fall through a manhole to her death or she'd get into an extravagant car crash where the car explodes. She guilt trips Danny by wishing that he had a fun time on his date, or whatever the situation calls for, right before she dies in these visions. It leads to some funny moments in the film, but it actually plays into the narrative. As the last time this happens, when Danny decides to stay in Chicago to stay with Theresa and let his mother go on her own to Florida, he imagines a hostage situation that Rose saves herself from and she reassures Danny that she can take care of himself. It's certainly a little goofy and silly, but I think it worked in getting over the idea of how much Danny is attached to his mother regardless of whether it is his choice or not. I'm gonna be honest, as much as I like John Candy and all, if it wasn't for Maureen O'Hara's excellent performance, I wouldn't have given this movie 3 stars. John Candy and Ally Sheedy are certainly good enough, but their characters are a little vanilla for my tastes. Their characters are just a little too bland and uninteresting to justify the movie being just about them. They needed a little bit of color to make the proceedings interesting. And Maureen O'Hara is certainly up to the task. I can't imagine how this movie would've fared without her character. It's not even that her character is that great to begin with, it's just that she's the one with the most personality and the one you're most drawn to, in spite of her inappropriate remarks. And her relationship with Danny is probably the highlight of the film, as far as narrative is concerned. It's just far more interesting than the romance between Theresa and Danny. This is a solid enough movie to watch on Netflix. Particularly if you want something lighthearted. O'Hara certainly makes this movie better than it would've been without her, so keep that in mind.
jesse o Super Reviewer
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One of John Candy's best characters.
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It's a cute movie, with cute actors and a cute plot. The wife, Ally Sheedy was annoying as hell and had more mom-issues than I've ever seen. How anyone couldn't love Maureen O'Hara is beyond me.
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