Starring
Don Ameche
Wilford Brimley
Hume Cronyn
Brian Dennehy
Directed by Ron
Howard
I thought this
was the second time I was seeing Cocoon because, when I was younger, I saw a Cocoon
movie that I didn’t like. When this was suggested to me, I was shocked to
discover that what I saw back then was the terrible Cocoon: The Return (the
sequel).
This movie,
though, wasn’t as grand as I’d been told, but it was enjoyable for what it was:
a sci-fi comedy with some cool 80s effects. It didn’t feel like it was trying
too hard to impress—it just did its thing.
The story is
about a group of men from an old folks' home who want their own space to hang
out. They keep sneaking into the house next door to use the pool. Things change
when the house gets rented out by a mysterious trio—two men and a woman.
Meanwhile, we
meet Jack, a boat owner who makes a deal with the trio to take them out on boat
trips for a few days. Needing the money, Jack agrees. Soon we discover the trio
are aliens who’ve come back to Earth to retrieve their comrades left behind
when Atlantis sank 10,000 years ago. To survive the journey back to their
planet, the aliens infuse the pool with healing energy and place their cocooned
friends (encased in rock) inside it.
Unaware of this,
the old men from the home sneak into the pool again. The healing energy seeps
into their bodies, making them feel young again, even though they still look
old. From here, the movie delivers some fun moments. It’s amusing to watch how
returning energy to these elderly men makes them act out—reminding you that
some “nice” old people might just be former jerks who’ve mellowed out with age.
Give them back their vigor, and the jerkiness resurfaces!
The movie
progresses with the aliens working to get their friends back home, while the
rejuvenated old folks become increasingly selfish and reckless, wanting to hang
onto their newfound vitality.
Now, I’ve never
met an alien from outer space, and I’m not exactly keen to, but this movie has
the weirdest reactions to alien encounters. From Jack, the peeping tom,
discovering that the woman he was spying on was actually wearing human skin, to
the old men gleefully swimming in a pool containing alien cocoons—it’s all a
bit ridiculous.
And here’s where
I’m going to get a little racially biased, so fair warning: this feels like a
very “white people movie.” As a Black viewer, I kept thinking, “What Black
person in their right mind would do any of this?” It’s like the movie heard me
because the only Black character in the retirement home freaks out about
everything later on, which felt oddly validating.
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