
Starman (1984)
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel
Memorable Line(s): "I watched you very carefully. Red light stop, green light go, yellow light, go very fast."
John Carpenter's movies always seem to have some sort of rough edge. It not that that they look amateurish, there's just a rawness, but Starman breaks that trend and is probably Carpenter's most polished movie. It's also a real treat to watch.
The Plot of Starman
Something is flying through space towards earth. An alien craft of some sort. It breaks through the Earth's atmosphere and crash lands in the back woods of Wisconsin.
A few miles from the crash site, we see Jenny Hayden (Allen) watching a home movie of time gone by with her deceased husband. She passes out on her bed and shortly after that a presence enters her home and explores it, collecting information and items. Jenny wakes up to some disturbance and discovers a baby-like form in her front room, but this isn't like any baby she has ever seen because it is growing at an exponential rate from infant to boy and then to manhood. And this entity ends up looking just like her husband (Bridges).
This is the beginning of Starman and also the start of a long adventure for Jenny Hayden and her Starman. It is a journey that takes them across the country with government types in pursuit lead by a conflicted SETI scientist (Smith). It is also a journey in which Jenny discovers just who this entity is and the Starman discovers what it is to be human. The two big problem are that they only have 36 hours before the Starman expires and a Army general (Jaeckel) wants the alien captured.
The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Starman
As I said in my introduction, this is probably Carpenter's most polished and complete pictures. From what I know about this movie is that it was totally backed by the studio and while movie looks and feels good, the experience wasn't to Carpenter's liking which is too bad because it is some of his best work.
Bridges has a juicy role as the alien and it's a part an actor can really sink their teeth into because there's little precedent for a role like this and a lot of territory to explore. Allen delivers an excellent performance as the grieving widow. Charles Martin Smith gets a peach of a role and delivers a very likable performance in the supporting role of a government contracted scientist.
The script is a bit of a tightrope walk as it has to balance out the action with poignancy without becoming sentimental or maudlin and it does this walk quite well. The score while simple is hauntingly effective.
Summary Judgment on Starman
This movie seemed well outside of the bounds of the subjects that Carpenter liked to spend his time and it's shame he didn't like the experience any more than he did because this is a darn good movie. Other movies have tried this subject matter before and after, but few have done it better.












