TrueJoshNight
Truly Dreadful Film
2hotFeature
one of my absolute favorites!
Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
grantss
A lightly entertaining comedy-drama from Ron Howard. Interesting plot that isn't very watertight. Feels very loose and slapped-together. Whole movie, in fact, lacks the gravitas necessary to make it a classic. Starts to feel like a chase-caper toward the end.Performances are so-so. Wilfred Brimley does a solid job and Don Ameche got a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and most of the performances are fine, just some seem very unconvincing. Tawnee Welch is particularly bad, and Steve Guttenberg should really stick to B-grade comedies.So, quite disappointing for such a well-known movie. However, not all bad. It keeps up a decent pace, is never dull, concept is reasonably original (if not sound) and does pose some interesting questions about life. Watchable.
oragex
The freaking Life on Mars psychosis of the 80's. First Close Encounters of the Third Kind, then E.T., then this. Common. And the music it's so... how to say, 'you have to believe'. May I suggest this kind of scenario works better for kids than for adults.Spoiler alert.And where are those grannies going to go? How would you know that that big interstellar ship won't break in the way letting those folks flying in the middle of the galaxy with no medic care and soap operas reception? Really. I know for a fact that there's no Champs Elysees on planet Antarea. Anyhow, the film is saved by the - for once - very nice and slow to get angry E.T.'s, admirably nice and easy going. And to call Tahnee Welch sweet and hot is just to use more pleonasms than is needed.Cocoon is cheesy and careless, and in my book also useless. How better would have been to dump the martians, and just let it be a history for older people with a similar scenario. That's what I would've bought.
dimplet
... you're older than Ron Howard!And you had a crush on Gwen Verdon when she played Lola in "Damn Yankees."You know you're getting old when you put on "Cocoon" and keep waiting for the Marx Brothers to make their appearances.You think you are watching "Cocoanuts." But you aren't quite sure because the last time you saw it was in its original theatrical release.Just before The Crash.All you can remember is it was set in Florida.And they kept trying to sell you some land.Which you bought.This movie is set in Florida, and you figure it must be "Cocoanuts" because what else could those things be in the pool?Then, 15 minutes into the film, you fall asleep.You dream of an enchanted evening in the South Pacific and think you're still in the Marines.Then Harpo finally appears.Playing a harp.Good night, and sweet dreams.
zetes
Pretty decent light sci-fi, kind of like E.T. except with old people instead of children. Brian Dennehy plays an alien come to Earth looking for cocoons left in the ocean a long time ago by their race. The cocoons they find are placed in an indoor pool next door to an old folk's home, and a few rascally old men (Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn and Don Ameche) sneak in and use the pool. The water has become rejuvenating, and the three men, along with their wives on subsequent visits, become reinvigorated. Steve Guttenberg plays a ship captain whom the aliens hire to take them out to sea, and Raquel Welch's gorgeous daughter, Tahnee Welch, plays one of the aliens for whom Guttenberg falls. Don Ameche somehow won an Oscar for his role, most likely for a silly break dancing sequence which he obviously did not perform. In my mind, Jack Gilford, as the guys' buddy who refuses to go into the pool, is the best actor in the film, though I don't think anyone deserved an Oscar nomination for it.
