- Film Review
- Reviewed By John Ferguson
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4 out of 5
Director Ron Howard hit the big time with this blockbuster about pensioners finding a new lease of life after stumbling across aliens on a rescue mission from another planet. What saves it from a complete wallow in sentimentality is the sharp and sassy playing of a distinguished cast of Hollywood legends - Oscar-winning Don Ameche, real-life husband and wife Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Wilford Brimley - all of whom easily steal the show from the bland but youthful Steve Guttenberg and Tahnee Welch. Howard handles the human drama and sci-fi with equal aplomb and the feel-good sentiments certainly struck a chord - a sequel followed three years later. However, a dash of Victor Meldrew's One Foot in the Grave-style cynicism would not have gone amiss.
Plot Summary
Science-fiction fantasy starring Steve Guttenberg and Brian Dennehy. A group of aliens from a distant planet land in Florida to rescue their compatriots who have been lying dormant in cocoons for the past 10,000 years. But the presence of the aliens has a strange effect on the elderly residents of a rest home.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Jack Bonner
- Steve Guttenberg
- Walter
- Brian Dennehy
- Art Selwyn
- Don Ameche
- Ben Luckett
- Wilford Brimley
- Joe Finley
- Hume Cronyn
- Bernie Lefkowitz
- Jack Gilford
- Mary Luckett
- Maureen Stapleton
- Alma Finley
- Jessica Tandy
- Bess McCarthy
- Gwen Verdon
- Rose Lefkowitz
- Herta Ware
- Kitty
- Tahnee Welch
- David
- Barret Oliver
- Susan
- Linda Harrison
- Pillsbury
- Tyrone Power Jr
- John Dexter
- Clint Howard
- Pops
- Charles Lampkin
- Doc
- Mike Nomad
- Lou Pine
- Jorge Gil
Crew
- Director
- Ron Howard
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