fast blast back to the '50s

Rating: 7/10 (16 April 2008)

'Back to the Future' was hugely successful, mainly with teens and mainly because it ties in to their hang-ups, angst, and fantasies. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) deals with them all as teens only wish they could, jumping on a skateboard when things get too sticky, outsmarting the bully, and zipping through time in a REALLY souped-up Delorean. Fox doesn't so much act as hyperventilate his way through the film; he is constantly on the move, frenetic and frantic, forever running to or from one thing or the other, and shouting "Doc!" a lot. His energy level is admirable, even though I got tired just watching him. This is precisely what teenagers, particularly teen boys, empathize with so deeply in this movie. The best solution to any problem is to not stand still. Run like hell and maybe something will come to you. The film's script is clever and in keeping with Fox's performance, really over-the-top and unashamedly silly at times. With the help of Christopher Lloyd's goofily eccentric Doc Brown, he travels back in time to 1955 and meets his own parents, before they were married. There are a number of nifty twists and turns in the time-travel plot, and the other characters are very well-cast. Crispin Glover does a great job as Marty's dim-bulb father George as does Lea Thompson, portraying Lorraine, his mother. Lorraine develops a crush on Marty back in the '50s (obviously not knowing who he is, or will be) and one of several problems Marty faces is making sure that she and George end up together. Glover and Thompson, along with Thomas F. Wilson as Biff, the bully, actually outshine Fox's breathless portrayal and Lloyd's incessant mugging. The gags and situations are sometimes obvious but have a good batting average; upon learning from Marty that the president in 1985 is Ronald Reagan, the 1955 Doc Brown says, quite understandably, "Ronald Reagan? The actor? Who's the vice-president... Jerry Lewis?" There is also an entertaining sequence at a high school dance where Marty and a back-up band perform a freaked-out, almost 'metal' version of 'Johnny B. Goode.' The film even takes it a step further, having Marvin Berry (Chuck's cousin) call him in the middle of the performance to let him listen, making the almost blasphemous suggestion that this is what gave Chuck Berry the impetus to create rock and roll! 'Back to the Future' is so good-natured, though, that it gets away with this as well as Lorraine's flirtation with Marty. Fox and the film are sufficiently likable that it all seems harmless, which it is. Two popular sequels followed, but they lack the charm and upbeat feeling of the first movie, a frenzied fun-ride through time.