J.J. does a bit of Goonies and Close Encounters

Rating: 7/10 (14 September 2013)

It's 1979 Lillian, Ohio. Joel loses his mother in a steel mill accident. His father Jack Lamb (Kyle Chandler) is a deputy sheriff. His friends want to make a zombie movie for the summer. They get Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) to be the romantic lead. Alice is not happy to be driving without a license with the deputy's son as the sound man. They are filming by the railroad when a train derails. They promise Alice to keep it a secret from her troubled father (Ron Eldard). The train turns out to be a secret military transport. While the kids continue their filming, the Air Force does the cleanup but strange things keep happening.
J.J. Abrams has made a good film. He's using a lot of that lens flare that he loves so much, but the train crash looks good. The kids' acting is paramount to this and they do an acceptable job. It would be nice if they had a bigger presence. Elle Fanning is like a giant to these kids. I didn't mind that as much as her monotone voice. It's a minor distraction. Other than Elle, none of the kids have a big enough presence. Maybe they're too normal or too new. There is good and bad about that. This has both the innocence of an earlier times and the tension of a creepy sci-fi thriller. It strikes different cords. It's a bit of Goonies and a bit of Close Encounters.