Aaron Michaels's Rating System
**** A great movie ***1/2 A very good movie *** A good movie **1/2 An okay movie ** A not so good movie *1/2 A not good movie * A bad movie NO STARS Cinematic torture
BLAST FROM THE PAST *** (PG-13)
Adam: Brendan Fraser Eve: Alica Silverstone Calvin: Christopher Walken Helen: Sissy Spacek Troy: Dave Foley
Directed by Hugh Wilson. Written by Bill Kelly & Wilson. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for brief language, sex and drug references).
BY AARON MICHAELS
Brendan Fraser has always seemed as a twenty-something actor who the studios want to be their next vehicle. Early in his career studios showered him with good roles. The career spawning School Ties was one of his first big films. Later on he started to head downward. He made films like Mrs. Winterbourne and Airheads both of which bombed critical and commercialy. Fraser last couple of films have helped his career a lot though. George of the Jungle was a huge hit and his latest movie Blast From the Past deserves the same.
Blast From the Past starts out in 1962. We are introduced to the Webber family which is made of the brilliant scientist Calvin (Christopher Walken) and the housewife (Sissy Spacek) with her baby on board. John F. Kennedy releases his speech on the Soviet missiles in Cuba aimed at the U.S. and Calvin knows what to do. You see he has been secretly building a fall-out shelter under his lawn which is full of all the needed resources (e.g. beef roast, roller skates, Dr. Pepper). He takes his wife and unborn baby underground and waits for the big boom. An airplane crashes into his house which he takes as missile fire. He locks the fall-out shelter door and sets a timer for 35 years which he says would give the world enough time to be able to support life again.
The baby son (cleverly named Adam) of the family is born underground by Calvin and he lives a normal life only blocked off from the nuclear world. Adam grows up into Brendan Fraser and on his 35th birthday he makes a wish to meet a girl. His parents soon give him the chance and this begins this fish-out-of-water.
Adam is amazed at how the world is since he has never been on the surface. He meets up with a streetwise girl name Eve (Alica Silverstone). Adam turns out to be a lady's man. While underground he learned perfect manners, dance steps, and several languages. He uses all of the above to woo Eve. Together the two get supplies for the fall-out shelter and maybe Adam will meet the girl of his dreams.
Almost ever actor in Blast From the Past does a great job. Christopher Walken has always been the psycho villain in almost all his movies and I've never really developed a taste for him. This movie changed it. He is funny and is a great choice as Calvin. Both Fraser and Silverstone are both very good. I'm glad Silverstone found a good movie after her disappointing films Excess Baggage and Batman and Robin.
Blast From the Past is unexpectedly a very well produced movie. It has a good script by Bill Kelly and Wilson with funny lines and clever scenes. Also I'd like to highly praise the set decorator, Michael Taylor, who makes each shot look great. A nostalgic nightclub The 40s which Adam and Eve go to is beautifully constructed. It reminded me a lot of The Mask with it's great design of the nightclub.
Blast From the Past is almost without cliché. EVERYONE knows that at the end Adam and Eve are going to get together and Eve will find out about Adam's underground family. The ending 20 minutes in which this happens is unexpectedly slow and doesn't provide any effective laughs. It's basically just used to finish off the movie. It really set me off course.
Of course the ending doesn't take away from the earlier 80 minutes which show how to make a good romantic comedy for the teenage set. The studio that made Blast also made last year's underrated The Wedding Singer have hit a way to make a smart and goofy romantic comedy that pleases audiences. I hope they continue their tradition in the future.
Aaron
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