A marvelous conceit.........

Rating: Null/10 (9 June 2002)

This movie proves that even a relatively simple premise can become a marvelous conceit if it is cleverly executed. There are not many mistakes and everything from the script to the casting came together to make this a signature film of the mid-eighties. I am not a big Michael J. Fox fan but I have to hand it to him here as he carries this film and makes it look easy in the lead as Marty Mcfly--the 80's teen thrown back 30 years in time to walk as stranger through his own hometown. There are some cartoonish elements here (including the high school bully) but the manner and setting of the picture is winning and the plot flows smoothly and evenly as Marty hooks up with Doc (Chris Lloyd)to both go back to the eighties where he came from and to secure the future by helping his future father (C. Glover) win his future mother (L. Thompson). The scene where Marty and Doc are hooking up the mechanism (dependent on a chance lightning bolt) that is to propel him back to the future is rather strangely ...touching..for reasons I can't quite figure out ---