Delirious (1991) just seemed like it would be fun - John Candy is a soap-opera writer, stuck in his own show. In fact, just "John Candy" probably would have gotten us.
It starts with Candy waiting for the cable repairman. As he shouts at the cable company dispatcher, we see the repairman all over New York, enjoying the sights, having a long breakfast, going to the zoo. There isn't much point to this sequence except to establish that Candy is often abused, and although he may shout, in the end, he has to take it. Once he gets his cable working, it also establishes that he writes for a soap opera, and is sweet on one of the leads, Emma Samms.
As he is getting to work, we also meet Mariel Hemingway, calling her mother before going to an interview for a role in the same soap opera. She drops some change, and Candy steps on her fingers, destroying her nails. Then he rips a sleeve of her dress off trying to help her up. That establishes her as a bit of a klutz.
It turns out that she is trying out for a role that Candy doesn't want to write into the show. The producers want to kill off his crush, Samms, and replace her with someone new. They've even brought in a new writer in case Candy won't do it. He blusters and rants, but it isn't going to do any good.
He has plans to take Samms to Vermont on an antiquing trip, but sees her making out with her co-star, David Rasche (Sledge Hammer). So he heads off on his own, and gets in an accident.
He wakes up in a hospital, with Samms as his nurse and Rasche as his doctor, the parts they play in the soap opera. In fact, he is actually in the soap opera. After he figures this out, he tries to write a better part for himself - he writes that the garage calls to tell him his car is ready - and it does, and it is.
Hemingway shows up as the daughter of a murdered scientist who is selling the secret formula... never mind. Let's just say that she thinks Candy is John Cage Bill Gates Jack Gates, mysterious millionaire. So that's the set up. He keeps writing cool stuff for himself, mainly to get to Samms. But it's pretty clear that he should be falling for Hemingway.
This is all pretty light froth. There aren't too many great gags, although there are plenty of amusing situations. The joys are mainly Candy's irrepressible style, ranting, wheedling, whining and playing the big shot. The rest of the cast are pretty great, including a cute cameo from Robert Wagner as the "real" Jack Gates. As Candy says, "But you never play daytime drama!"
Of course, it all works out for everyone, except maybe Wagner. And it worked out for us too. We had a great time. Not a new favorite or anything, but left us smiling. My only complaint was that Hemingway wasn't so much a character as a prize. Not an unusual problem for movies of this type. Also, the opening song was Prince's Delirious, but the closing was something limp and blah.
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