Starman 1984
Somehow I never saw this movie, but the reviews are positive, so I ended getting a digital copy and watched it pretty quickly. A cynic would say it seems like imitation Steven Spielberg, which has some truth to it, but it does a decent job of standing on its own by keeping things fairly simple, with more emphasis on romance. Karen Allen and Jeff Bridges are both very good as this alien shows up in the body of her dead husband. From there it becomes a road movie as they try to get Bridges back home to his planet. Unfortunately it does feel derivative. Mork & Mindy had already explored a romance between an earth woman and a fish out of water alien. And E.T. had a lot of similar elements including a heavy handed government attempt to capture the alien. Still, there is no reason you can't enjoy all of these for the unique way each tells its story. Bridges was nominated for an Oscar for his performance, which is distinctly different from anything else he has made. The movie is also a little slow, but it has to carefully take its time to transition an alien abduction into a romance. I was afraid the ending would get really out of hand and while a significant part of the budget for the movie must have gone towards helicopter rental, ultimately it remains true to the rest of the movie. Not a great movie, but certainly worth watching.
Written: 25 Apr 2024