Review of Starman (1984) by Aaron N — 03 Sep 2009

Starman: I send greetings.

Brad Heinmuller: What the hell's going on here?

Jenny Hayden: I'm being kidnapped!

Starman: Greetings.

Brad Heinmuller: You better let her go pal, I'll give you some greetings.

The issue with many John Carpenter movies are that the characters are usually lacking. This film manages to be a change in pace for that reason. This is a much warmer film for Carpenter, who manages to combine his affinity towards genre filmmaking with the plot of a road movie/love story.

After an encounter with one of the Voyager satellites, sent out to probe space with greetings messages from earth, an alien visitor is knocked off course and lands in Wisconsin. The alien, Starman, assumes the form of the dead husband of a widow, Jenny played by Karen Allen. Starman is now played by Jeff Bridges.

After dealing with the startling revelation of seeing her dead husband, let alone the fact that she is dealing with an alien, Jenny is basically forced to help Starman make it to his rendezvous in Arizona before his human form dies out in three days time. Jenny is at first apprehensive, but grows a bond with Starman and tries to help him learn. Meanwhile, the government has tracked the crash of the Alien and is in pursuit of the being.

George Fox: Do you seriously expect me to tell the President that an alien has landed, assumed the identity of a dead house painter from Madison, Wisconsin and is presently out tooling around the countryside in a hopped up orange and black 1977 Mustang?

Its a tender John Carpenter film. By that I mean that all the various qualities of a Carpenter film are present. The premise fits a B-movie. The score is simplistic, but effective. His style of special effects use. All of this is aided by these two lead performances that keep the film from entering camp territory.

Starman: Shit!

Jenny Hayden: Don't mind him. He's just learning English.

Roadhouse Waitress: Well, he's got a hell of a start on it!

Bridges is playing an alien in a human body. His movements are kind of birdlike, his language is fractured, and he is constantly observing what it is to be on earth. Karen Allen is very good as well. Her character has to do two things. She is essentially teaching Starman to be human on earth, in her own way defining things that range from simple explanations to something like love. The other thing her character gets to do is deal with being around her dead husband. She now has a chance to gain closure on the grief over her loss.

The elements involving the government aren't great, but they come standard for this kind of story, and break up the pacing appropriately. Charles Martin Smith, who I really disliked in The Untouchables, manages to be decently entertaining as a government employee who dreams of meeting an alien.

I found this film to be very enjoyable. Its a bit dated, but Bridges and Allen are both solid, the story works, and the closing scene is just kind of great.

Starman: Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you? You are at your very best when things are worst.