Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman
Year: 1985
Written by Chris Columbus and Steven Spielberg, directed by Richard Donner, Goonies is about as all-American-cinema as you can get, like a little slice of film pie that may be ridiculously over-worked but we grew up with it so we love it all the same. Goonies is a very silly movie filled with much nonsensical dialogue, but you’ll adore it by the end even so, I almost guarantee it; that’s what magic does, I guess. This movie is magical in so many ways, from it’s idiotic characters to its bogus adventure; you want fun & entertainment in your films, well have I got one for you.
A group of kids, who call themselves the Goonies and their neighborhood the Goondocks, are facing a rough truth; leaving. Their parents can’t foot the bill, a country club is buying everything up, and the Goonies will be forced to disband; or will they? Mikey, the leader of this band of miscreants, convinces the others, and his older brother, to go in search of a storied pirate treasure that is supposedly nearby. Of course they’ll never find it, if it even exists, but hey, one last adventure. Turns out, these yahoos are smarter than they look, and maybe the pirate treasure of One-Eyed Willy exists after all.
What a lovely, jolly, wacky, juvenile good time; as long as you view it that way you are in for a ton of fun. The lines are thrown out like they don’t matter, even physics and science take a hit, it’s barely relevant what happens at any given moment, you could close you eyes or turn off the sound or walk away and it wouldn’t matter, yet somehow Goonies works anyway. It’s the heart, the spirit, the fun, the joy, the chaos and the clatter, that all work together so well to give us such an incredible movie, one that you need to grow up with to love, but can be enjoyed by anyone. The cast is great, Chunk & Sloth steal the show & our hearts, you’re swept away in a whirlpool of bad decisions, but you come out the other side smiling; that’s movie magic right there.
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆