esrosedotblog

ALIENATED

Sometimes the conjunctions of Netflix are really weird. The films come more or less at random in alphabetical order and based on availabilty. So yesterday we had the half good Close Encounters with mostly nasty people being taken up by nice aliens for a contribution to the galaxy and today we had the same, only better.

Ron Howard's Cocoon (1985) is enjoyable from beginning to end and is built on a dramatic structure that works at all levels. It is required that the cast be in ensémble mode and they do a great job. Brimley is great. Cronin and Tandy are already a team. Gwen Verdon is an underrated gem. And, Don Ameche, who is the consummate actor deservedly won a Best Supporting Oscar for his work here.

The space ship is even better than the Spielberg singing ship.

A side comment: I have seen most of these people work on the stage. I saw Cronin and Tandy in several plays, The Gin Game was most outstanding. Gwen Verdon was in Damn Yankees. I saw Ameche play a romantic lead in Cole Porter's Silk Stockings and he has a voice and presence that still has zing in my memory. This is pre-electronic musical theater, incidentally. And while I have never seen Brimley in the flesh, it is always a treat to see him work. He is an original. Blah blah.

Steve Gutenberg is in this as well. He was a hunk then. It was supposed to be his break out picture but it wasn't. Too bad. He sure looked great. He has a little too much of the geek in him to be a leading man even though he has the physical equipment.

Why am I going on about the actors? Because it is an actors' picture. There aren't many made in Hollywood anymore. I have almost given up on it. Why else would I be looking at 1176 Best Films rather than going to the cinemaplex?

This was one of the NYTimes Best, incidentally. I am giving it a 4 out of Netflix 5.

Note:I have written about Don Ameche before. He was an incredible performer who had a long career in radio, film, stage and television. This site is a wonderful tribute to him. We last saw him as an older man in the Mamet film Things Change (1988) in which he plays a shoeshine man who gets paid to stand in for a gangster who is to be assassinated. Great movie.