Slow Encounters Of The Worst Kind

jimbo-53-186511

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind is so terrible in so many ways that I'm at a loss as to where I even begin....

For starters very little happens in the film; now I'm not someone who has ADHD who needs explosions and car chases every two minutes in order to keep my interest in a film, but if you're going to set up a film in a slow burning way then it's always a good idea to make the characters interesting or give your audience something to care about. Seven Samurai is a good example of a film that is slow, but in that film the viewer is rewarded for their patience by a spectacular closing act. No such luck here. The first 90 minutes revolve around spaceships flying around we then have Dreyfuss and his family squabbling and arguing - all this isn't helped by the fact that none of them have a shred of likability about them. As the mother, Teri Garr was particularly grating and her overacting became mildly irritating. Likewise, the kids were annoying as well and the family melodrama that we witness for the majority of the running time gave me a mild headache.

I think the worst thing about this film is that Spielberg somehow manages to make this family unfriendly; younger viewers will be more forgiving than an adult audience and won't look for things such as poor character development, plot holes etc. Kids will just want the film to be fun and exciting and the problem here is that Close Encounters is neither. I can imagine kids saying 'Mummy, Daddy, when's this going to get going?' 'When is something going to happen?' Then mummy and daddy are going to be forced to apologize for wasting 2 hours of their children's time when they realise that it doesn't get going and that nothing happens. I can honestly imagine this film causing a family row.

Close Encounters is a terrible film and I can only assume that the high ratings have been awarded by Spielberg devotees - you know the sort of people who refuse to accept that he's capable of making a bad film. I, for one, would class myself as a Spielberg fan and have loved several of this films including Schindler's list, the first 3 Indiana Jones films, Jaws, Duel. However, I am prepared to accept that he does misfire on occasions by making boring films such as this and Empire Of The Sun. If you must watch a Spielberg film that involves an extra terrestrial encounter then you'd be better off watching ET.

score 2/10

jimbo-53-186511 19 July 2015

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3280206/