TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

spencer-w-hensley Fresh off the success of "Home Alone" producer John Hughes and writer-director Chris Columbus re-teamed with "Home Alone" co-star John Candy for this offbeat romantic comedy, in order to give the comedian a chance to do a surprisingly more serious part while still having a comic edge. The best thing: they got Hollywood legend Maureen O'Hara to come out of retirement for her first screen appearance in over 20 years, to portray Candy's mother. The story is about 38-year old Chicago cop Candy who still lives with his mother, a set-in-her-ways Irish woman. Candy fears for his mother's safety and well-being when he is not around. His cop partner James Belushi who is unhappily married, encourages Candy to finally make the swift moves and ask someone out. Candy meets Ally Sheedy (in a role fairly similar to the one she played in "The Breakfast Club") who works in her father's funeral home as a cosmetologist, making up dead bodies. Candy falls head-over-heels in love with her, but O'Hara is against the idea as Sheedy is Italian, and she wants Candy to meet and fall in love with an Irish girl. This leads to conflict in he and Sheedy's relationship, as Sheedy feels Candy cannot stand up for her against his mom, and that he cares more about O'Hara than putting her first. In addition to the three main players so shines Belushi, as Candy's vulgar, profane partner, Kevin Dunn as Candy's overbearing, lawyer brother and Anthony Quinn as a Greek neighbor trying to win O'Hara over much to her initial dismay. This is a pleasant romantic comedy-drama that has a lot of really good character development, and the relationship between Candy and Sheedy is sweet and touching at the same time. O'Hara is excellent as always as the mom, though Columbus at times really recycles her role with his script. Some of the jokes about her reactions to living without Candy can get a little stale and annoying, but aside from those few instances O'Hara does a fine job and her chemistry with Candy is believable. Quinn is very funny in his role, and has nice chemistry with O'Hara. Maureen O'Hara always said John Candy was a fine, sensitive actor, better than his usually perceived comedic persona, and that is definitely true here. Columbus really directs Candy very well in both funny and serious sides, making this one of the late actor's finest performances right up there with Del Griffith in Hughes' "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." It's a shame this is also one of the late actor's most underrated movies. This movie is not quite as good as PT&A, but despite a few minor flaws, it is immensely enjoyable due to good work from the cast, and the likability of the characters and how they grow and change over the course of the film. Columbus makes his characters people that we care about and enjoy seeing what happens to them over a two hour period making what would seem like a formulaic romantic comedy, one of the finest of the genre.

tavm After Maureen O'Hara died last month, I suddenly got the urge to order this-her last theatrical movie-from Netflix for me and my mom to watch when she came back from visiting my sister in Seattle. I was wonderfully surprised to find out my mom hadn't previously seen this as that meant she would watch this with fresh eyes as I had seen this on VHS tape back in the day and remember enjoying this at the time. We both very much loved this just now. I mean, Ms. O'Hara is her lovable self-provided her character is a tad bigoted though she's simply "telling it like it is". Her son, John Candy-another performer who's been missed since he passed away only a few years after this movie-is a cop who lives with her and has been quite lonely as a result. Then one day, he meets Ally Sheedy as someone who does makeup on deceased bodies when they're both at a wake and he bravely asks her out which she accepts. I'll stop there and just mention that some complications ensue but things seem to work out at the end. Fine support from Jim Belushi as Candy's cop partner and Anthony Quinn as a neighbor who is crushing on Ms. O'Hara. Written and directed by Chris Columbus, he does a nice mixing of drama and comedy when the sequences call for it and also makes good use of the Chicago locations (a city I was born in and lived as a child for about 6 years as well as one I visited quite a bit during the '80s). Anyway, Only the Lonely is a fine tribute to the careers of both Candy and O'Hara before their untimely deaths. Oh, and Quinn as well before he passed several years later.

namashi_1 'Only the Lonely' is an okay film, that rides on the late/great John Candy's undeniable talent. The talented actor, pitches in a likable performance, that dominates the film. 'Only the Lonely' Synopsis: A Chicago cop must balance loyalty to his overbearing mother and a relationship with a shy funeral home worker.Besides Candy's likable performance, 'Only the Lonely' also manages to get in some cute/funny moments. The characters are nicely written & the Screenplay overall, has some niceness to it. But, the slow-pace as well as the length, needed some serious persuasion. The pace is slow & the film is lengthy by at least 15-minutes. Chris Columbus's Direction is fair. Cinematography is standard. Editing isn't crisp.Performance-Wise: Candy is the life of 'Only the Lonely'. Maureen O'Hara is theatrical. Ally Sheedy is cute. Anthony Quinn & James Belushi appear in brief roles.On the whole, 'Only the Lonely' is a yet another example of how great an actor John Candy was.

moonspinner55 It was a grand and inspired move from writer-director Chris Columbus to bring Maureen O'Hara back to the screen in a modern-day romantic comedy, playing the feisty, hen-pecking mother of an unmarried Chicago cop--but that's where Columbus' good ideas run aground. O'Hara's steely looks and angry outbursts are wonderful, and she's quite comfortable acting alongside John Candy as her son, yet this script is so thin it has to rely on mean-spirited fantasy and dumb, time-worn slapstick and insults to pad its running-time. The Chicago sites and neighborhoods aren't really captured with any flavor (the city never comes to life), and James Belushi just gets in the way as the proverbial best friend. Candy does some nice work, and Ally Sheedy (as Candy's new girlfriend from the local funeral parlor) works hard to give the love story a quirky bounce, but the results are a near-miss. ** from ****