Delirious (film)

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Delirious
The movie cover for Delirious.
Directed by	Tom Mankiewicz
Produced by	Larry Cohen Fred Freeman Doug Claybourne
Written by	Fred Freeman Lawrence J. Cohen
Starring	John Candy
Music by	Cliff Eidelman
Distributed by	MGM Pictures
Release date(s)	August 9, 1991
Running time	96 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Delirious is a romantic comedy film starring John Candy, Mariel Hemingway, Emma Samms and Raymond Burr. It was released in 1991, but it did not achieve commercial success at the box offices. Some speculate that John Candy was better suited to pure comedy roles rather than ones within the realm of the romantic comedy genre.^{[citation needed]}

Despite these issues with the film, it has a cult following as a sleeper comedy classic, largely due to Candy's presence.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Plot

The film opens in a lush 1970's soap opera, complete with all the characters you'd expect to find, in a small town of immense wealth and ludicrous backstabbing... which breaks and we see that it is of course an acting set.

John Candy plays Jack Gable, a nearly out-of-work soap opera writer, whose product, like him, is now dated. His situation is only worsened by his despicable work associates who would sooner show him the door than work with him. With his audience becoming jaded, Gable decides - or is rather strongly encouraged - to take a cross-country road trip. While stowing his belongings in the trunk of his car, the trunk lid suddenly pops open and strikes Gable on the chin, knocking him unconscious. When he comes back around, he proceeds on his trip, only to be involved in a car accident.

Upon waking from the crash, Gable finds himself in Ashford Falls Community Hospital, the same hospital in which his soap opera takes place. Thinking himself the victim of a prank by the actors, Gable goes to the window to confirm his suspicions, only to find the view beyond the glass is entirely of his own creation. Incredulous, Gable checks out of the hospital and makes his way to a motel, where he looks into getting his car repaired. When a conversation with the local auto mechanic (one of the characters from his show) goes nowhere, he types in his typewriter that the mechanic calls him and tells him his muffler is fixed, only to have the words magically disappear from the page. A few seconds later, the phone rings and suddenly his car is fixed. At this point he begins to explore the town, and in doing so he discovers the truth. He is living within his own soap opera, a world in which he and his typewriter are in total control.

Gable seizes on his newfound power to selfishly pursue the selfish Rachel Hedison (played by Samms). Despite his inventive writing skills, she manages to ignore him, yet his futile efforts are redeemed by the attentions of the unselfish Janet Dubois (Hemingway). Other events ensue, in which Gable experiences the height of the high life, the lowest of the low, the full gamut of experiences, including a wild party which he wrote. The film ends with Jack getting together with the woman who played Janet, and getting the show done how he wanted.