Sly retelling

Rating: Null/10 (1 August 1998)

Melissa Mathison's script is a clerely disguised retelling of another sci-fi classic, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. If you see both films, you will notice that both deal with the unusual friendship between an ET and a boy, both extraterrestrials are sly Christ-figures, and both stories deal with the way humans treat each other.
The movie is charming in its use of cast and mood. Notice some cleverly disguised images: the ET spaceship is, at one point, a Halloween pumpkin and, at the end, a Christmans tree ornament. Lots of interesting Biblical symbolism, including the use of the rainbow at the end to indicate the peace between God and human.