Spoilers !
Steven Spielberg at 78 has returned to his Close Encounters days with this Hitchcockian conspiracy theory romp which revisits every alien abduction story since the 1947 Roswell Incident
I won’t bother you with the convoluted and silly plot, suffice to say Brits Emily Blunt ( as weather gal Margaret Fairchild ) and Josh O’Connor (as maths analyst Danial Kellner) are two strangers that come together very much like the Richard Dreyfuss and Melinda Dillon characters in Close Encounters to save the planet from its own introspection death wish.
As it turns out all the alien visitation theories were right and after much convoluted chasing Blunt and O’Connor revisit their childhoods ( a Spielberg theme) to do the right thing in sharing the information .
You can see quite clearly that Spielberg had fun with this movie . Echo's of North by Northwest, Close Encounters, and ET , come to mind, with signature background music by John Williams completing the nostalgia ( I can’t believe he’s in his nineties! )
Blunt couldn’t be better here, she really is a versatile actress and will be a national treasure rather soon! and the set pieces ( The train sequence especially) is pure Spielberg . But as a whole movie , I was slightly disappointed .
As Janet and I left an old man behind me summed up his feelings
“ Independence Day was better”
The world's obsession with Steven Spielberg completely passed me by. With the exception of Schindler's List, I can't think of any one film I've admired that much. He's actually one of the very few directors I've ever walked out on - the second rather dreary Indiana Jones epic with that annoying child - and I was sorely tempted to exit his flatfooted West Side Story long before the overdue finale. I should add that I'm not great fan of Emily Blunt either (I don't think I'll ever forgive her for Mary Poppins Returns) - Bel Ami
ReplyDeleteEmily Blunt is a rubbish actor, full of herself and no way will be a national treasure in my view.
ReplyDeleteYou are quite a good film reviewer, and convinced me to not bother. One locally made film on my horizon is Leviticus.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Anonymouses re both Spielberg and Emily Blunt (and don't get me started on Emerald Fennel!) Go and see Masters of the Universe instead for a clever and fun summer superhero blockbuster!
ReplyDeleteLOVE me some Independence Day! The dishy Jeff Goldblum, yum! And of course the hilarious Will Smith! "And what is that SMELL?!!" I have watched (the first one) over and over. Thank you for your well-written reviews!
ReplyDeleteNot my sort of genre - alien abduction, so I'll give it a miss. xx
ReplyDeleteSomeone really should hire you as a movie critic.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like it would be worth a view ... once it's on television and it won't cost me an arm and a leg to see it. It's currently £16 each to see films at our local cinema, and that's the pensioners rates.
ReplyDeleteGood to know. I think I'll give it a pass.
ReplyDeleteIt's Spielberg. He's 78. He had fun. You're right about Blunt. I suppose O'Connor doesn't kiss any handsome men, that will be disappointing.
ReplyDeleteI'll always give Spielberg a look.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm going to see this.
ReplyDeleteAnd when you're Spielberg I guess you can reference... yourself. Emily Blunt has been quite versatile. I Want O'Connor to rescue ME.
XOXO
Enjoyed your movie review as always.
ReplyDeleteWe watched our DVD of Independence Day just a couple of evenings ago and loved Close Encounters. Glad to know Steven Spielberg and John Williams are still with us.
Hugs!