Matinee is one of those big budgeted movies that should be as well known as The Goonies. But for one reason or another it just didn't get any recognition.
So today it's one of those awkward films that people may have heard of but most have never seen. Now does the film deserve a better reputation?
Possibly.
It's one of those feel-good based in the 1960s films about middle school kids finding their first love and making friends. At least that's what half of the film is about. The other half is John Goodman selling these incredibly cheap B grade films. with hokey gimmicks and get rich quick schemes. Essentially he's a low-grade businessman who's trying to make a buck anyway he can and the simultaneously running away from other people who we may owe money to.
Oh and finally there's the third aspect of the film which is the freaking Cuban Missile Crisis! Which adds a unique element to the film but also makes it feel a bit disconnected with its tone.
Makes it kind of difficult to care about all these people small problems when there's this huge ridiculous threat of atomic Annihilation looming over the entire movie.
Obviously we lived well past it and we know it's not going to happen but in the context of the film all these people are scared stiff and the idea that they should be concerned about a movie with a giant ant is just a bit disingenuous.
So is this movie good. Yes technically it's a decent film.
Did I enjoy the movie.
Not really.
I just couldn't get connected with what was going on in the film.
John Goodman is a Fantastic actor and he brought it back around every time when I started to lose interest
(which was a real problem in the first 30 odd minutes when John Goodman is barely present.) Otherwise we have to contend our self with all these young adults playing kid actors.
They do a decent job of it but they look incredibly uncanny.
They try their darnedest to make these people look like genuine kids, but they've still got those very adult faces and it makes everybody look like an extremely awkward Barbie doll or Ken depending on the gender.
It's really hard to overlook that when so much of the film focuses around them.
Also there's an incredibly awkward scene towards the end of the film or two of our characters they're sitting there kissing and you realize that you're supposed to be watching to middle schoolers make out. It's just a bit uncomfortable.
I think what overall bothers me is that there are several good stories within this film that I think would have been better explored than the main plot.
Just having John Goodman trying to set up his wacky Film Production in the small town could have made for its own movie.
Or having the weird dynamic between the kids trying to get to know each other essentially a young romance.
But maybe best of all would have been focusing on this liberal hippie girl who was incredibly outspoken about people's utter stupidity towards the atomic bomb and being upset about the segregation of people according to their skin colour.
There's an incredibly interesting movie that could have been made here. A kind of Average Joe kid who lives in an army base getting to know a more radical thinking girl and having his mindset changed over time as he realises the world he lives in has a lot of corrupt value to it.
The recould have been a lot of character development and an overall interesting story.
Especially given the Cuban Missile Crisis over the entire thing.
All in all there's a lot of opportunity that could have been taken from a film like this. And what they ultimately went with was a kind of fun happy-go-lucky Ghostbusters feeling kind of movie. It works well to a general crowd but I just can't see anybody remembering it yours on. And in the case of this film it is forgotten by time as it wasn't part of the cultural Zeitgeist and made Popular by the Realms of nostalgia.
But hey the film is fine and I think most people would enjoy it if they gave it a chance. It's got a lot of comedic moments and you might get a kick out of all the kooky special effects that are supposed to pay homage to those cheap 50s science fiction films.
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