Review Recall: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Review Recall: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Ok, so yesterday I said that there would be no Review Recall this week. I lied. Because I am so nice, I have decided to do it today instead. It’s either this or actually finding something productive to do and I’m cold, so writing in my blanket is the way forward this morning. So, make sure you have your time travelling passports and your otherworldly visa’s as were heading all the way back to 1977 where a fairly new director going by the name of Steven Spielberg had just brought out his second movie: Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 

The Plot: Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is your average Joe, working long hours to provide for his wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) and their two children. On the way to work, Roy and his truck has a strange experience with what seems to be an UFO. Naturally, like all good Sci-Fi movies, nobody believes Roy, despite the Government’s ever so shifty presence on the scene. 

This doesn’t stop Roy developing an obsession towards a strange shaped mountain. Roy becomes completely infatuated with this Mountain and builds it continuously, putting pressure on his life at home, forcing Ronnie to leave with the children. Is Roy going crazy? Or has he really had an experience with a UFO?

The Movie: I was hesitant to cover a Spielberg movie, because you know, it’s a Spielberg movie and most of them (not all) are deeply in the Zeitgeist. However, while still regarded as a great movie, Close Encounters is one of the Spielberg movies doesn’t have such reputation such as Jaws and E.T, so I’m happy to review it. 

As a movie, Close Encounters has shaped Sci-Fi movies for generations to come. The story is simple, but Spielberg crams it full of real emotion to create a great movie. Yes the subject matter is of aliens; however, the story is about something real: obsession. The movie is not about Aliens landing and a Government conspiracy. It’s about one man becoming obsessed with something so much that it destroys his family life. A real story wrapped up in a Science Fiction package. 

Close Encounters isn’t perfect though and it does have a few problems for me. Mainly, the ending. Ok, yes I it’s great to see the Aliens and the spaceship makes funny noises, but to me it’s just such an anti-climax, and is about twenty minutes with very little suspense. Another problem leads me to our next section:

The Performances: I’m probably going to get a lot of stick for this, but I’m not a fan of Dreyfuss in Close Encounters. I get he’s playing a man obsessed and isn’t all together there, however he just isn’t nice. I don’t see many redeeming qualities in his character that makes me want him get his family back. 

This is the case even before the Alien Encounter, we see Roy with his family and he’s just being an Ass. Ok he’s hardworking, but for me, that’s about it. 

The performances across the board aren’t necessarily fantastic, from the exception of Claude LaCombe played by Francois Truffaut, who definitely shines amongst a lot of the more lacklustre performances. 

The Verdict: Despite the performances not being completely up to scratch, it’s hard to look past how much real emotion the movie has. 7.5/10