Zeeneaste (Christian)’s review published on Letterboxd:
John Carpener might very well be my favourite filmmaker. His three or four timeless classics aside, there is so much to discover. Starman showed up on some odd free streaming service and I just went, why not! It's unlike any other Carpenter flick and also one of the best films I've seen all year. The bad news is, I have a feeling that I am now through with the director's good films.
Especially in the 80s, Carpenter didn't hold back with his worldview. Even in this comparatively whimsy flick, he shows his distrust for the government. Random strangers are willing to push over Coke vending machines, just to spite the police. If I needed to find a thematic throughline of Starman, it would be: you can always count on these acts of compassion among human beings, but beware the authorities. Carpenter presents it in this matter-of-fact way that I appreciate. I waited for the movie to turn into a schmaltzy Spielberg flick but it just doesn't. Just look how the subplot of Karen Allen's infertility is handled, it's refreshingly understated.
Karen Allen is pretty good in this; her role is the polar opposite of her Marion Ravenwood. The overt display of the vulnerability of her widowed character has gotten to me quite a few times. Jeff Bridges, needless to say, does an outstanding job as an alien who tries to adapt to humanity. This performance could have turned out imvoluntarily comedic but it doesn't. The whole diner sequence and the revival of the deer is probably the best part of the movie and it happens right at the film's midpoint. It never reaches these highs again but it doesn't drop off by a lot, either.
Another scene that could help get across why this film works is that bathroom sequence at the gas station. Allen trying to explain a space alien the concept of men's and ladies' rooms is amusing and at the same time Carpenter manages to mine a lot of tension from her escape plan. Because, of course she would and should try that.
Let's just pretend Karen Allen's character finds a good way out of the situation where the movie leaves her at the end.
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