In the film Canadian Bacon, an unpopular president picks a fight with his northern neighbours. A key scene takes place at a hockey game
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What is Canadian Bacon about?
The film imagines that, at the end of the Cold War, America’s economy is tanking and a new enemy is needed. So the president (played by Alan Alda), egged on by his National Security Advisor (Kevin Pollak), decides to demonize Canada to boost both his poll numbers and U.S. defence spending.
How close is it to the truth?
Well, when the U.S. president entertains his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Krushkin, at the White House, he serves the foreign leader KFC.
Pollak’s character is also seen with a chart, explaining that “Canada owns more of the U.S. than any other country!” The chart suggests we own 55 per cent of America, with England and Japan picking up most of the rest.
And when several American characters attend a hockey game in Canada, they gripe about our national anthem. But what really upsets the Canadians is when one of them remarks: “Canadian beer sucks!”
Who delivers this blasphemous remark?
Sheriff Budd Boomer of Niagara Falls, New York, is a rabid anti-Canadian. But in a clever bit of casting, he’s played by famous Torontonian John Candy, in what would be his last screen appearance.
Candy died in 1994, a year before the film’s release. The credits include a shout-out to “Johnny LaRue,” a character Candy played on SCTV. Another credit notes: No Canadians were harmed during this production.
Any other Canadians in the film?
Most of the cast are Americans, including Steven Wright as a Mountie. But Canada’s Dan Aykroyd shows up as an OPP motorcycle cop who pulls over Candy’s vehicle and chastises him for having anti-American graffiti written on the side in only one of Canada’s official languages. The fine is set at $1,000, or 10 American dollars. Candy is then given a can of spray paint to correct his error.
The film also includes a montage of Canadians who have “infiltrated” America. They include William Shatner, Michael J. Fox, Peter Jennings, Morley Safer, Raymond Burr, Louis B. Mayer, Ivan Reitman, Tommy Chong, Monty Hall, Mike Myers, Alex Trebek, Lorne Greene, Rick James, Leonard Cohen, Mary Pickford, Rich Little, Paul Anka and (misspelled) Leslie Nielsen and John Kenneth Galbraith.
Does Canada win the war?
You could say that. A missile system that only Canada can stop is about to launch an attack on Russia, and the U.S. president calls Prime Minister Clark MacDonald (Wallace Shawn) to offer him anything he wants. In the “where are they now” credits at the end of the film, the prime minister is said to be “still ruling with an iron fist.”
Does Mexico have a role?
Barely. At the very end of the movie we see the CIA character driving a tank across the Mexican border and smashing a sign that proclaims: “Your free trade partner!”
What does the title mean?
What was the reaction to the film?
What does Moore have to say about all this?
The National Post has reached out to Moore but has not yet heard back. But the filmmaker is known to have a soft spot for Canada, even though it is sometimes misplaced: His assertion in 2002’s Bowling for Columbine that Canadians don’t lock their doors follows us to this day.