Overview

• The feature-length documentary, which opened TIFF’s 50th edition, premiered globally on Prime Video on Oct. 10.
• Colin Hanks directs with Amazon MGM and Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort, using extensive archives and interviews with Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Tom Hanks, Macaulay Culkin and others.
• Candy’s wife and children participate on screen as co–executive producers, describing the process as emotional and cathartic for their family.
• Critics praise the warmth and access but fault the heavy reliance on talking heads and limited exploration of Candy’s craft, noting sparse coverage of chapters like his Toronto Argonauts tenure or films such as Cool Runnings.
• In new remarks, Reynolds says he sees parallels with Candy’s life and hopes the film prompts open discussion of anxiety and loss; the portrait also revisits Candy’s 1994 death at 43 while filming in Mexico.