Review of Cocoon (1995) by Nathan M — 02 Mar 2014

Or the One Where Steve Guttenberg Wears Really Short Shorts and Wilford Brimley Gets Busy...

Honestly, I found this film to be a little too silly for my taste. I know it's one of those 80's classics, and I'm not denying that there's some value here. However, Ron Howard's take on the sci-fi genre just doesn't work for me. It's not that the special effects are cheesy, if there's anything to complain about there, it's more about the art design. We've seen better aliens in Close Encounters.

Unfortunately, Howard seems unable to really balance the adventure side of the sci-fi genre with, the best part of the film, the deep emotional investigation into the psyche of people growing old. What works the best in this film is seeing these veteran actors get some solid parts to work in. Howard does great showing what these characters are going through as they struggle to grow old, and struggle with unexpected youth. The reflection on death, youth, and growing old is something that was pretty remarkable.

Unfortunately, it's undercut by Steve Guttenberg's storyline, that is completely unnecessary, and this alien (I want to say subplot, but it's not) plot line that seems a little ridiculous. In the end, there is something of value in Cocoon, but it's not as great as I'd heard.