Who’s Harry Crumb? Blu Ray Review (Mill Creek Entertainment)
Who’s Harry Crumb? is a 1989 comedy film directed by Paul Flaherty (18 Again!, Clifford, Primetime Glick, & Billy Crystal specials). John Candy made 3 other films in 1989 which included Uncle Buck, Cannonball Fever, & The Rocket Boy. It was produced by Arnon Milchan (The King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, Natural Born Killers, & Fight Club). It features cameos from various Canada’s Second City TV (SCTV) regulars. It grossed $10,982,000 in America at the box office for TriStar Pictures. Fashion model Jennifer Downing (played by: Renée Coleman from A League of Their Own, Pentathlon, & Quantum Leap), the daughter of millionaire P.J. Downing (played by: Barry Corbin from No Country for Old Men, Dead & Buried, Critters 2, & Stir Crazy) is kidnapped. P.J. asks family friend Eliot Draisen (played by: Jeffrey Jones from Deadwood, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Beetlejuice, & Howard the Duck), president of the detective agency Crumb & Crumb, to investigate the case. He assigns the case to the the last descendant of the agency’s founders Harry Crumb (played by: John Candy from Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Uncle Buck, The Great Outdoors, & Stripes).
He meets the rest of the family which includes younger daughter Nikki (played by: Shawnee Smith from the Saw franchise, The Blob, Anger Management, & Summer School) & stepmother Helen (played by: Annie Potts from Ghostbusters franchise, Toy Story franchise, Pretty in Pink, & Young Sheldon). He finds out that Helen is having an affair with tennis coach Vince Barnes (played by: Tim Thomerson from the Trancers franchise, Near Dark, Dollman franchise, & Fade to Black). Police Detective Casey (played by: Valri Bromfield from Mr. Mom, Nothing But Trouble, & Best of the West) is also put on the kidnapping case & she has no confidence in Harry or his work. After some dumb luck, Harry stumbles on to some new evidence that points him in the right direction for this mystery. Caught up in a world of distrust & greed, Harry goes undercover & disguise himself to solve this disaster. Can he prove he’s the worth the family name? or Is he the same failure from before????
Before Mike Myers, Martin Short, & Dana Carvey were the master of disguise, John Candy did it in Who’s Harry Crumb? There’s some interesting characters when he goes undercover to investigate. For being a comedy icon, this is one of his least known features & I think it’s honestly one of his most highly under-rated films in his body of work. Back then, He was doing so much material that I think this kinda got forgotten quick & everyone moved on to the next project. This one goes straight for the dumb & ridiculous humor, the script was hilarious! It’s also one of the first productions where John Candy got the opportunity to be the lead instead of the sidekick. It’s one of his best performances in his entire career. It’s a shame they never did a sequel to this. Crumb has a great supporting cast especially for the comedy sub genre. Annie Potts usually played nerds or weird characters but she looks amazing in this! It always awesome to see Tim Thomerson in a bigger role & Jeffrey Jones plays a perfect sleazebag in this. I am glad that Mill Creek resurrected this under appreciated gem to home video for this new blu ray release. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Mill Creek Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer is a upgrade compared to the 2000 & 2014 DVD releases. This film has never been flashy or something you would consider reference quality but this is the best it’s ever looked on home video so far. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is also an improvement from before. It won’t roar in your home system but it’s solid for an late 80s comedy. There’s no special features on this disc. From this batch, Who’s Harry Crumb? is the biggest exclusive! It’s never been released on blu ray in the states. It comes with an awesome retro VHS style slipcover for a limited time. It’s available exclusively at Walmart right now & everywhere else in two weeks, check it out!!!!
