Review of Starman (1984) by Timothy M — 24 Dec 2010

Good concept, marred by some terrible writing and one critical casting mistake. For starters, although [i]E.T.[/i], this film's cousin, is ostensibly more "childish," at least Spielberg knew how to lay it all out effectively - in this, we get a useless subplot with Charles Martin Smith and Richard Jaeckel, who are the government representation trying to hunt down Jeff Bridges. It contributes nothing to the plot, and gives us no real insight. Compare that to the more vague and abstract portrayal of the Peter Coyote character in [i]E.T.[/i], which is far more effective. And even then the motives of the Coyote character are quite clear - Jaeckel just wants to kill Jeff Bridges because, well, he's the bad guy.

The casting problem is Karen Allen. She's obviously great as a feisty firebrand in [i]Raiders of the Lost Ark[/i], but as a miserable widow she just doesn't cut it. She's boring, she can't deliver on whatever drama might be extracted from the material, and it's just a wrong-headed choice in general. Perhaps if the character were allowed to get more hysterical, it might have worked, but she's surprisingly mellow and unquestioning for someone who's been kidnapped by an alien who has taken the form of her dead husband. What is good is Jeff Bridges: the film is actually very funny and endearing when it's in "comedy of manners" mode, and Bridges completely inhabits the role. If only the film itself were a better-constructed vehicle for the performance.