Cocoon by some is considered utter eighties classic and its understandable why. There isn't a lot like it. You have a cast of movie and theater greats past their presumed prime all getting together in a movie that is essentially about aliens. Plus you throw in the eighties camp acting great Steve Guttenberg, and you got yourselves a bonafide hit!! I happen to think that as cute and fluffy and perhaps even classic that it is...its not that great but Cocoon fulfills a certain entertainment quota with a really strong cast, with really terrific chemistry. Its like an ET for adults. Certainly you can't doubt the talent of director Ron Howard who has done some amazing work in his time although Cocoon was really one of his early hits following Splash. I think Cocoon hits the familiar note of what life in the eighties was like. The eighties was a time when people wanted THINGS...material goods, youth, vitality, freedom, it was like a materialistic hippie movement and Cocoon plays on that premise. Leaving behind family, friends, everything you've ever known so that you can have no sickness and eternal life is well worth it with just a little bit of sadness. And the idea that being old SUCKS.
The cast of Cocoon is nothing short of brilliant. Playing the elder crew that find eternal life are Don Ameche, who won an Oscar for his role as free spirited and spunky Arthur Selwyn. I think the Oscar is a little much but his character is still blast. The incomparable Wilford Brimley as level headed leader Ben. Hume Cronyn as spirited womanizer Joseph Finley, who probably gives one of the best performances. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1945 and if anyone deserved one for Cocoon I think it'd be him. Oscan Nominee Jack Gilford as the sour and doubting Bernard Lefkowitz. Multiple Oscar nominated Maureen Stapleton as Ben's beloved wife. Oscar winner Jessica Tandy is terrific as Cronyn's spirited and scorned wife. The younger crew are played by Steve Guttenberg as the slapstick, comedic boat captain, the amazing Brian Dennehy as the mysterious head of the alien crew Walter, the very sexy and perfect eighties movie girl Tahnee Welch as one of the main alien crew members and the object of Guttenberg's affections.
The cast works so well together in kind of a silly story but its still a feel good cutesy kind of deal. The young cast just mesh so perfectly with the older cast and everyone is terrific. I could have done without Guttenberg, one of the most over rated and over used actors of the eighties. He kind of made serious moments a joke and it just felt like he was demeaning all the talent in this film. The film does have some emotion behind it but its just kind of surface emotion before moving on to something. Cocoon won't ever be ground breakingly brilliant but its cute and fun and apparently Oscar worthy but it probably seemed like the most opportune moment to bestow Oscars on an aging but brilliant cast. If you haven't seen Cocoon then of course you should but likely you won't be blown away by it. Its just okay. 7/10
The cast of Cocoon is nothing short of brilliant. Playing the elder crew that find eternal life are Don Ameche, who won an Oscar for his role as free spirited and spunky Arthur Selwyn. I think the Oscar is a little much but his character is still blast. The incomparable Wilford Brimley as level headed leader Ben. Hume Cronyn as spirited womanizer Joseph Finley, who probably gives one of the best performances. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1945 and if anyone deserved one for Cocoon I think it'd be him. Oscan Nominee Jack Gilford as the sour and doubting Bernard Lefkowitz. Multiple Oscar nominated Maureen Stapleton as Ben's beloved wife. Oscar winner Jessica Tandy is terrific as Cronyn's spirited and scorned wife. The younger crew are played by Steve Guttenberg as the slapstick, comedic boat captain, the amazing Brian Dennehy as the mysterious head of the alien crew Walter, the very sexy and perfect eighties movie girl Tahnee Welch as one of the main alien crew members and the object of Guttenberg's affections.
The cast works so well together in kind of a silly story but its still a feel good cutesy kind of deal. The young cast just mesh so perfectly with the older cast and everyone is terrific. I could have done without Guttenberg, one of the most over rated and over used actors of the eighties. He kind of made serious moments a joke and it just felt like he was demeaning all the talent in this film. The film does have some emotion behind it but its just kind of surface emotion before moving on to something. Cocoon won't ever be ground breakingly brilliant but its cute and fun and apparently Oscar worthy but it probably seemed like the most opportune moment to bestow Oscars on an aging but brilliant cast. If you haven't seen Cocoon then of course you should but likely you won't be blown away by it. Its just okay. 7/10