... because over 20 years later, it doesn't seem to have held up all that well, dating markedly. Back in '84, I guess E.T. fever was still running high and a similarly told tale that was nothing more than competent was enough to rekindle the memories. Watching it in 2006 for the first time as I did today, I personally expected a lot more from a Carpenter favourite.
As mentioned, he does well enough in the directors chair, but the script doesn't have his name on it, and it shows. Our Starman seems to have powers that are written as flexible according to what's happening with the plot at the time, which is hardly awe-inspiring if you've got the scope to craft an otherworldly being. He can learn to drive a car just by watching us, and yet he can NEVER get around to becoming a decent mimic of our speech patterns??? (Studio: "talking funny is endearing to the audience, keep it in!!!!!") Bridges does what the role asks of him (and got an Oscar nomination for it) but any admirer who's seen a representative sample of his work knows that behaving quizzically with a halting voice and beguiling charm is not exactly testing for him, he is capable of so much more. Karen Allen is a wonderfully pretty and talented actress but she didn't manage to 'sell' me the burgeoning romance between her and her co-star, here. So far as I could surmise, the character is seduced by an alien because he LOOKS the same as her dead hubby... So, 'personality' isn't important, then?? The entire romance is like trite manipulation, and it's even worse when the script attempts to describe love, because the sentiment is pretty accurate, but the practical demonstration of chemistry before our eyes isn't.
Moving away from the main characters, all that's left is the big bad military bogeymen of the Cold-War era getting involved. Yeah yeah, it was a recurring theme throughout the 80's, it's nothing fresh. In fact, I can't think of a single scene that felt specific to this one particular film I was watching, it all felt somewhat stale; so either it's been ripped off too much in the intervening years by its multitude of descendants, or else it wasn't all that 'inventive' in the first place. If you saw it when you were a kid, it also might be a personal favourite, but I don't think it's made the transition well into an adult sphere. If you're in the mood for some Close-style Encounters and you've overdosed on watching the Extra-Terrestrial, you might find this adequate to stoke your obsession as a stopgap; just don't expect a cosmic experience or you'll come crashing down to earth, because this really is a touch mundane.
As mentioned, he does well enough in the directors chair, but the script doesn't have his name on it, and it shows. Our Starman seems to have powers that are written as flexible according to what's happening with the plot at the time, which is hardly awe-inspiring if you've got the scope to craft an otherworldly being. He can learn to drive a car just by watching us, and yet he can NEVER get around to becoming a decent mimic of our speech patterns??? (Studio: "talking funny is endearing to the audience, keep it in!!!!!") Bridges does what the role asks of him (and got an Oscar nomination for it) but any admirer who's seen a representative sample of his work knows that behaving quizzically with a halting voice and beguiling charm is not exactly testing for him, he is capable of so much more. Karen Allen is a wonderfully pretty and talented actress but she didn't manage to 'sell' me the burgeoning romance between her and her co-star, here. So far as I could surmise, the character is seduced by an alien because he LOOKS the same as her dead hubby... So, 'personality' isn't important, then?? The entire romance is like trite manipulation, and it's even worse when the script attempts to describe love, because the sentiment is pretty accurate, but the practical demonstration of chemistry before our eyes isn't.
Moving away from the main characters, all that's left is the big bad military bogeymen of the Cold-War era getting involved. Yeah yeah, it was a recurring theme throughout the 80's, it's nothing fresh. In fact, I can't think of a single scene that felt specific to this one particular film I was watching, it all felt somewhat stale; so either it's been ripped off too much in the intervening years by its multitude of descendants, or else it wasn't all that 'inventive' in the first place. If you saw it when you were a kid, it also might be a personal favourite, but I don't think it's made the transition well into an adult sphere. If you're in the mood for some Close-style Encounters and you've overdosed on watching the Extra-Terrestrial, you might find this adequate to stoke your obsession as a stopgap; just don't expect a cosmic experience or you'll come crashing down to earth, because this really is a touch mundane.