Starman (1984)

Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith

Synopsis:
A woman is shanghaied by an extraterrestrial who has taken the form of her late husband and she has three days to get him to a rendezvous point while avoiding government agents.

Impressions:
I've seen this movie described as "ET for adults" and that's not a terrible way to characterize it. I was surprised to see that this was directed by John Carpenter, as it's rather different than most of his films (though the sequence of the Starman crafting his human form does look like it came out of The Thing, albeit much less horrific). Jeff Bridges does a good job of acting in the uncanny valley, making one of the most genuine alien performances you'll see. And while we have the stock villains in place, I do like that the Starman and his culture aren't portrayed as overwhelmingly superior. In many aspects they are ideal but there's something missing that he gains from human contact. Although she has quite a few credits to her name, I really haven't seen Karen Allen in much besides Raiders of the Lost Ark, so this was an interesting alternate look at her as an actress. I enjoyed the movie well enough and consider it worth a watch. For additional fun, tell yourself this movie precedes Guardians of the Galaxy. ^_^

Rating:
Watch It