Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13721 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-08-12
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Dutch, French, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A 1991 comedy, Delirious stars John Candy as the head writer on a soap opera set in the fictional small town of Ashford Falls, whose naff power dressing and power wrangling is distinctly reminiscent of Dynasty. Candy has a crush on the somewhat imperious and Joan Collins-esque star of the show, played by Emma Samms, although waiting in the wings to be written into the show is the more wholesome and unaffected actress Mariel Hemingway.

Delirious takes a turn when Candy is felled in an accident and awakes, supernaturally, to find himself in the very world of his own soap, with Ashford Falls a real town and its fictional characters, including Samms, now real people. Candy discovers, however, that in this world he has the power to "write" situations as they suit him--in this case, by casting himself as a dashing, wealthy and mysterious Wall Street hero, able to sweep Samms off her feet.

The film is in some ways a precursor of Pleasantville (in which two teens are sucked into the world of a "Honey, I'm home" black and white 1950s sitcom). However, between them the star, writers and director (Tom Mankiewicz) make a ham fist of Delirious. The parody of soap mores is quite well done but quickly palls in its obviousness; Candy's performance is misjudged, as if trying too hard to make the best of a bad job; while overall, the film feels cheap, tacky and broad, once again raising the question why in the 1980s and 90s America produced such great sitcoms but such poor film comedies.

On the DVD: Delirious is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. It's a decent enough edition but looks its age in places, in terms of colour definition in particular. The only extra is the original trailer. --David Stubbs

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
A soap opera writer bumps his head and wakes up in the town where his daytime serial takes place. What begins as a nightmare turns into the opportunity of a lifetime as he discovers he can control events by simply writing them.

Customer Reviews

A strange comedy, but enjoyable all the same
I used to have this on video years ago and have finally bought this on DVD, if you like John Candy then you'll probably like this.

This is a bit different to the kinds of films that John Candy made during his career, it's more off beat than any other film I've seen him in, but it's unlike any other film I've ever seen because of this.

It's a film set within a television series, I guess you could say it's a bit like Nurse Betty, but rather than being a character that's been written into a show, this is a writer who's had an accident and whilst he's delirious he goes into dreamland and becomes a character in the television show that he writes and has the ability to change the plot using his typewriter.

This won't be for everyone by any means, but I've always enjoyed it, there's lots of over acting and ridiculous storylines, but it's a harmless and good natured film with fine performances by the whole cast, there's also a good cameo appearance by Robert Wagner, sadly two of the films stars John Candy and Raymond Burr have since passed away, they both help carry the film very well.

Candy is in a class of his own
never have i experianced such acting explosives,an absolute scream, the best film i've seen since animal house!

Could have been worse, but could have been a lot better
Well, it's a John Candy movie. Which means that you shouldn't expect quality writing or film making. What you can expect is a shoddy mediocre 90 minute comedy with six or seven laughs, and probably some borderline misogyny.

It starts surprisingly well with a joke about waiting for a cable repair guy to turn up. The joke is then reprised later on to very funny effect by Raymond Burr (millionaire, very respectable pillar of the community having to stay home waiting for the repair guy). The story is pretty tepid and poorly told, as I expected, but it gets shockingly muddled by the last half hour. As little takes place that makes any great amount of "dramatic" sense it becomes a bit boring. I was very happy when it finally ended.

I have a weird soft spot for bad 80's comedies so I enjoyed this more than I think most people would. Having said that, I didn't particularly like it. I find it quite shocking that something this inept was made in 1991 (as was the even worse "Loose Cannons"). You expect poor quality films from the 80's, but surely not in the same year they released "Terminator 2"! If you're unsure about this, then I recommend you get the "The Couch Trip" instead.