10 Best Carl Reiner Films

One doesn't have to go far to celebrate the work and life of Carl Reiner. Not only does so much of it live on and maintain the kind of timeless quality the best of 1960s mainstream culture, he also served as comedy's straight man. And as a the straight man, his job wasn't to deliver the joke so much as set it up. It's what made him an indelible part of the 2000-Year-Old-Man routine and also a perfect comedian's director. Carl helped solidify the comedic talents of friend Mel Brooks, Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin.

Only a handful of celebrities carry the moniker the nicest man in Hollywood, and fewer still live up to it, but research has yielded not a single negative thing about him.

And Reiner worked until the end, last appearing briefly in the closest you can get to a "himself" role in Toy Story 4, further cementing his mark on yet another generation of fans.

Surprisingly, for such a mult-faceted talent, Reiner only worked behind the camera on 15 films. True to his nature, several of them were vehicles intended to showcase someone else's talent. Few, fortunately, didn't succeed. He simply knew how to tap into what made certain comics and celebrities funny, then get the best from them.

You aren't going to see a lot of comedies today that celebrate the joys of being overweight without some serious blowback or messages about body positivity, but the 1980s were a different time. And John Candy was a different property, known for transcending his appearance, acting lighter than air.

John Hughes found his quintessential suburban everyman in Candy, a Canadian who had risen to fame thanks to Second City and its television show. And Reiner similarly used Candy in Summer Rental.

It began as an idea from SNL producer Bernie Brillstein: "I have five children and I weigh 240 pounds. Being heavy in California is not a terrific thing." Summer Rental doesn't stray too far from its fat-guy-out-of-water premise, but it's no matter. The film hinges on Candy's likability more than its standard eighties summer teen comedy set up.

While Hughes may have tapped into a more emotional side of Candy, Reiner gladly plays with his more pratfall-prone side. One's enjoyment of the picture depends on how much mileage you get out of nostalgic eighties fare, but it's certainly a step up from Reiner's Mark Harmon-led Summer School. Both are equally aimless and vaguely lazy, a trend that unfortunately continued into Reiner's nineties films, but there's some charm left.

Candy and Reiner got along so well they planned to reteam, but it wasn't to be.