John Candy Remembered by ‘Cool Runnings’ Cast at 90s Con Reunion

film gathered for a heartwarming reunion. The movie, a fictionalized account of the Jamaican bobsled team’s unlikely journey to the 1988 Winter Olympics, is one of the most-loved sports comedies of the 90s. Decades later, the stars who brought that underdog story to life reunited at 90s Con in Hartford, CT, on Friday.

When Cool Runnings arrived in cinemas in 1993, it seemed like just another comedy about a group of people who would attempt a sporting achievement against all the odds. However, the story of four Jamaican athletes—Derice, Sanka, Yul, and Junior—who competed as a bobsled team in the Calgary Olympics with the help of unorthodox and disgraced coach Irving Blitzer, played by Candy, became an uplifting movie that has transcended generations.

The cast reunion, some 32 years after the film’s premiere, instantly became a nostalgic tug for those who remember the movie when it was originally released – making them also question how that can possibly have been over three decades ago. Leon Robinson (Derice Bannock), Doug E. Doug (Sanka Coffie), Malik Yoba (Yul Brenner), and Rawle D. Lewis (Junior Bevil) came together to reminisce about a project that changed their lives. Though John Candy passed away in 1994, his presence certainly can be felt just by seeing the group back together again.

Reflecting on the Legacy of ‘Cool Runnings’ and John Candy

Cool Runnings was one of those moments of lightning, with the cast, the script, and the direction coming together in a way that turned a run-of-the-mill movie into an iconic, quotable, and instantly recognized addition to the sports comedy vaults. Whether you want to kiss a lucky egg, or chant “ein, zwei, drei” like the Swiss, if you have seen Cool Runnings and not felt even just a twinge of emotion at the end, then you need to go find a doctor to check you have a heart.

During the reunion, the cast reflected on the big miss from the event, John Candy. Malik Yoba said of Candy:

“He was a very sweet man, beautiful man, generous, just a great guy to be around. You know what it is? He was genuinely really happening to be doing this movie. Yeah, because it was a different type of movie for him. It wasn’t a movie which, you know… It was a serious movie for him. He lives in comedy and, for him, he got to play a very serious role. This movie was originally a very serious movie. They turned it into a comedy.”

Lewis followed this up by reflecting on Candy’s lack of a “movie star” ego, saying, “I think he was so kind. I was expecting to meet a movie star and I just met a person. I think his pathos, his heart, he was just such a great person.”

When the film debuted, critics were fairly positive about the movie, and it currently holds a 76% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. This is bettered by the audience score of 81%, making it a solid all-rounder – something that you just don’t get these days when most reviews are so divided that they are hardly worth reading. Additionally, the movie was a huge financial success. Made for just $17 million, the film pulled in a worldwide haul of $154 million, and really took off when it arrived later on home video.

After more than 30 years, Cool Runnings is still a movie that holds a special place in the hearts of many, and tells a strong, worthwhile story about the determination of four derided and mocked Black men who people believed were unworthy of and unprepared to take on the challenge put before them. While Candy was the big star name of the movie, the film’s Jamaican bobsled team were the real stars of the story.

Source: X, People