A Forgotten John Candy Flop Is Making Waves On Tubi

43 years ago, the runaway box office success of "48 Hrs.," in which Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy bickered and brawled as they attempted to track down a couple of vicious escaped convicts, turned the buddy-cop subgenre into a formula goldmine. Before the 1980s drew to a close, films like "Running Scared," "Beverly Hills Cop," "Lethal Weapon," and "Red Heat" were able to work profitable variations on this very simple dynamic. Even though cops have never been more difficult to root for, the subgenre, as evidenced by the 2024 success of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley," is still commercially appealing today.

While movies like "48 Hrs." and "Lethal Weapon" were powered by tightly constructed screenplays, the vast majority of buddy cop films got by on comedic anarchy. They actually had more in common with Richard Rush's gloriously shaggy "Freebie and the Bean" from 1974; two partners exchange profane repartee for a couple of hours while destroying loads of property and needlessly jeopardizing the lives of innocent bystanders. Michael Bay's "Bad Boys 2" is the ne plus ultra of this form.

Somewhere in the middle is "Armed and Dangerous." This action-comedy wore its goofiness on its sleeve by thrusting "SCTV" alums John Candy and Eugene Levy into a bullet-whizzing, car-crashing yarn about bumbling security guards. If you ever wondered what "Bad Boys" would've looked like had they made the Dana Carvey-Jon Lovitz version as initially intended, this is pretty much it. Released on August 15, 1986, it had a lot going for it. Alas, the majority of moviegoers flocked to another movie that opened that weekend.

Tweaking the buddy-cop genre via a film about a couple of security guards who stumble onto a corrupt operation that thrives because the perpetrators are counting on said security guards to be too dumb/inept to sniff out their poorly masked malfeasance was actually a great idea. Had it come together as intended, the movie would've starred Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi and been directed by Harold Ramis. When Belushi died, Candy took his role. John Carpenter suddenly became attached to direct. It was a go picture. Then Aykroyd and Carpenter bolted.

In 1986, Candy told the Los Angeles Times, "When they dropped out, I was left with a contract and no movie. So [Eugene Levy] came in, took my role, and I took Dan's spot." This might've been a mistake. Candy is more than up to the task of playing an overly aggressive ex-cop whose spot-on instincts prove to be disruptive for his corrupt employers, but he's a little too reined in. Meanwhile, Levy's role was rewritten to make him the brainy partner. Ultimately, they're both buffoons, and this broadness clashes with the very '80s action aesthetic (orchestrated by Mark L. Lester just one year after he delivered the meathead classic "Commando").

"Armed and Dangerous" shared its opening weekend with the debut of David Cronenberg's "The Fly," which proved to be a critical and commercial sensation. Though Candy and Levy are good for some big laughs (Candy hitching a wild ride with a redneck trucker played by Steve Railsback is a highlight), the movie never takes off. Even the presence of a flirting-with-stardom Meg Ryan can't quicken the film's pulse.

But 39 years after "Armed and Dangerous" hit theaters, according to FlixPatrol, it's currently the second most-watched film on Tubi. It's the ideal movie for the streamer. You can sit back, enjoy a substance of your choosing, suffer the ad breaks, and feel adequately entertained. There are worse ways to burn a couple of hours.