Was Uncle Buck a Mob Enforcer?

(Originally published on February 8, 2016)

I’m going to bend the rules a bit for this post, because I don’t even remember who I was discussing this with, and (as often happens) this doesn’t involve a professional review. Anyway, this is a theory largely developed by two fans of the movie Uncle Buck (one being myself).

The basic theory is that Uncle Buck was actually a Mafia enforcer.
Sound strange? Maybe, maybe not. However, consider a few things.

For starters, Buck Russell lives in Chicago, which is obviously known for its share of crime family activity. That alone certainly doesn’t make him a candidate, but many clues are scattered throughout the movie. For one thing, Buck has inside methods of rigging horse races. Who else might have such connections? Gee, I wonder. Also, there are many references to rodents, mice, rats, etc. throughout the movie. In Mafia lingo, a rat is an informant, a snitch, a lowlife criminal who tattles to authorities to save his own skin.

Here are the rodent references I could find:
When Chanice says she wants to hear the “pitter patter of little feet,” Buck says “I’ll get you a mouse and a piece of sheet metal.” He also named a few of her body parts after Mickey and Minnie Mouse. He tells that awful principle, “Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face!” The drunken clown even shows up in a mouse mobile. After Buck roughs him up, Buck says, “Get in your mouse, and get out of here.”

Buck is obviously no stranger to fighting, threatening people, and telling them what to do. Look at the scene with Pal. As soon as Buck approaches Pal, he knows he had better leave Tia alone. Then there’s Bug. Bug has a sense of what Buck is capable of, and certainly ends up paying a price for abusing Tia’s trust after Buck puts him in the back of his trunk. Who else might put someone in the trunk of a car? Well, that point is clearly in my favor here.

All signs are that Buck is trying to straighten his life out and “go straight,” as the saying goes. However, one should never forget this particular moment, illustrating perfectly well what Buck Russell — AKA Buck Melanoma, AKA Moley Russell’s wart — may be capable of: