Friday 12 July 2013

The Goonies (4 Stars)

This was the fourth film shown at the 2013 Outdoor Film Festival at Brindley Place in Birmingham. I missed the third film, "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

I was pleasantly surprised how good "The Goonies" was. I wouldn't have gone to see it for the film itself, I was more interested in socialising with the other film club members. I didn't realise that Corey Feldman was in it, or I would have been more interested. As it was, it was a beautiful action adventure starring young children, much in the style of the Famous Five books that I read when I was a child.

A group of friends who live in a dock area in Oregon face the imminent eviction of their families. Unscrupulous property tycoons want to demolish all the houses to build a golf course for the rich. On the day before they have to leave they find a map with the location of a famous 17th Century pirate, One-Eyed Willie. They follow the map and come to an abandoned restaurant by the coast, which is being used as a hideout by a family of criminals, the Fratellis. The friends follow the map into a labyrinth of caves below the restaurant, but the Fratellis are in close pursuit, trying to get the treasure for themselves.

The film is fast-paced and full of fun from beginning to end. What I find unusual is that even though the film is aimed at young children it contains a lot of sexual innuendo. To me that seems very un-American. The film stretches belief, due to the pirate filling his treasure cave with the sophisticated booby traps of an Egyptian pyramid, but who cares? It's all good fun.

I didn't realise how popular the film is. I saw a group of young girls sitting together, probably aged about 13-14, all wearing Goonies t-shirts. In retrospect, I regret not talking to them and asking what makes them so fanatical about the film. Their replies would have been an interesting addition to this post.

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