Blast From The Past (1999) Brendan Fraser, Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken, Sissy Spacek, Dave Foley, Joey Slotnik, Rex Linn, Deborah Kellner, Nathan Fillion, Jenifer Lewis, Cynthia Mace, Don Yesso, Carmen More, Dale Raoul, Jazzmun. Screenplay by Bill Kelly and Hugh Wilson; story by Bill Kelly. Directed by Hugh Wilson. 106 minutes. Rated PG-13, 3 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to pbbp24a@prodigy.com
Unpolished and ungainly, but thoroughly likable, "Blast From The Past" is the conceptual opposite of last year's magnificent "Pleasantville." Where "Pleasantville" magically threw two contemporary teens into the monochromatic world of a "Father Knows Best" style '50s sitcom, "Blast >From The Past" takes a young man raised in complete isolation with wholesome early '60s values and thrusts him into modern-day Los Angeles. But while "Pleasantville" addressed a variety of serious issues, "Blast >From The Past" makes only passing glances at social commentary, instead keeping the focus on silliness. Due to some inspired casting choices, the fish-out-of-water comedy succeeds more often than not.
It begins in 1962, at a cocktail party held by affluent suburbanite Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) and his pregnant wife Helen (Sissy Spacek). Moments after friends in another room remark that Calvin, while a brilliant scientist and wonderful husband, is more than a little paranoid, President Kennedy appears on TV with grim news about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Fearing the worst, Webber sends his guests home, then retreats to the family's incredibly elaborate bomb shelter, hidden beneath the house. Just as he is closing the hatch, a small plane crashes into his roof. Mistakenly convinced that the Big One has decimated the planet, Webber sets the shelter release timer for 35 years, his estimate of when it will be safe to return to the surface.
With their radio destroyed by the plane crash, the Webbers are completely isolated from the outside, sealed into a 1962 mindset. When Helen gives birth, the couple optimistically christen the child Adam and devote themselves to raising the consummate Renaissance man. Adam grows into adulthood with dreams of seeing the sky, while Dad teaches him about science, sports and the art of avoiding both Communists and post-war mutants. Meanwhile, Mom schools the boy in manners, dance and proper courtship of young ladies. Finally, the day comes for the now-grown Adam (Brendan Fraser) to venture forth onto the surface, which, on a drizzly night in urban L.A., bears a remarkable resemblance to the post-Atomic world his father anticipated.
"Blast From The Past" is divided into two sections. The first, a portrait of the Webbers' life underground, works because it offers the rare opportunity to watch Christopher Walken and Sissy Spacek do comedy. Walken takes his standard slightly-demented persona and gives it a benign twist, with delightful results. While bemoaning the destruction of humanity, Calvin thrives in the bomb shelter, quite pleased with himself for having the foresight and resourcefulness to have sealed his family safely from the devastation. Walken makes Calvin an appealing anachronism, a deliciously geeky spin on Ward Cleaver. Meanwhile, Spacek plays Helen as June Cleaver quietly coming apart at the seams. Ever the dutiful wife and mother, she nonetheless succumbs to a massive case of cabin fever, seeking solace by taking slugs of any available liquor. The desperate character could have become cartoonish or tragic, but Spacek maintains just the right tone to keep Helen believable and funny.
The second part of the film chronicles Adam's adventures on the surface, with a nifty performance from Brendan Fraser making up for numerous weak spots. Fraser is an exceptional serious actor, most recently evidenced by his outstanding work in "Gods and Monsters," but he also possesses a real gift for comedy, particularly when playing lovable, innocent goofballs. Fraser shined in "George of the Jungle" because, instead of being overly cautious about protecting his leading man image, he threw himself into the role completely, and his gusto was irresistible. He is particularly adroit here, beginning his journey as a total babe-in-the-woods, then, using a series of subtle stylistic moves, transforming Adam into a romantic hero, without ever betraying the character.
I wish more of Fraser's portion of the film had shown such subtlety. A running gag about a group of burn-outs who build a cult around the Webbers would have been funnier if it had been toned down. As a cynical young woman who reluctantly serves as mentor for Adam (guess what her first name is), Alicia Silverstone must act excessively wary of him solely because that's how romantic comedies are structured. Silverstone displays ample energy, but her suspicious shtick grows old quickly.
On a brighter note, "NewsRadio" star Dave Foley takes one of contemporary film's most tiresome character clichés, the gay best friend, and makes him sparkle, using his limpid eyes and sharp phrasing to maximum effect. For fans of Foley's "The Kids in the Hall" days, he plays Troy as an smart, sincere cross between Hecubus and the "Steps" guy. For everybody else, well... he's damn good.
Despite being structurally sloppy and going for the obvious jokes too often, "Blast From The Past" is a lot of fun, thanks to some ingenious moments and the efforts of its exceptional cast. No one will mistake this for comic gold, but it's an amusing, affable way to spend 106 minutes, and sometimes that's enough.
© 1999 Ed Johnson-Ott
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