The happiness and heartbreak of childhood

Rating: 6/10 (6 July 2007)

When it first appeared in 1982, Steven Spielberg's family-friendly "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" was immediately hailed by critics as the '80s equivalent of "The Wizard of Oz". But, when seen today, the film seems more a marvel of technical wizardry than either an emotional or deeply personal offering from either Spielberg or screenwriter Melissa Mathison. Young Henry Thomas (who has a lovely, sleepy gaze), living in suburbia with his divorced mom and two siblings, befriends an alien creature who was inexplicably left behind by his own people on a fast visit to Earth. Spielberg knows intuitively how to set up this story, and he wrings laughs and excitement from even the hoariest of circumstances, but Mathison's script is a weak link. Quite suddenly, the kid and his alien friend seem to become attached spiritually (what little Elliott acts out is in response to what E.T. is experiencing), and still the audience is carried away with it. I didn't particularly find the relationship between the boy and E.T. very profound, and the second-half involving the unfeeling, intrusive scientists is one big muck-up, but there are scenes that work: Elliott's initial flight with E.T. on his bicycle (which gets a reprise near the end and congeals, seeming straight from a Disney movie) is a magical minute of film-making, and the finale is a highly professional bit of tear-jerking. Spielberg is surely in touch with the kids' feelings and responses on camera, which leaves mom Dee Wallace pretty much out of the party, but still it's a briskly-paced, imaginative valentine to innocence. I just wish it had been a bit more sensitive, and without so many winks towards the slapstick market. **1/2 from ****