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Very 70s remake of Jack Finney's novel transplants the action (to no real purpose) from a small California town to San Francisco, where much less appealing heroes -- a couple of would-be adulterers (more or less), a UFO nut, a psycho-babbling psychiatrist, and Jeff Goldblum -- battle alien spores that grow to duplicate and replace human beings. Very well thought of film that, according to Rotten Tomatoes' "Critics Consensus," "expands upon themes and ideas only lightly explored in the original" -- a true statement, provided, of course, that by "themes and ideas" they mean "special effects." Adds nothing of substance either to Finney's book or Don Siegel's original film. Good cast (including Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, and Leonard Nimoy) goes largely to waste. With, however, one hilarious line, sarcastically directed at Veronica Cartwright's ancient astronauts character. And a cameo appearance by Kevin McCarthy as a paranoid pedestrian.
Very 70s remake of Jack Finney's novel transplants the action (to no real purpose) from a small California town to San Francisco, where much less appealing heroes -- a couple of would-be adulterers (more or less), a UFO nut, a psycho-babbling psychiatrist, and Jeff Goldblum -- battle alien spores that grow to duplicate and replace human beings. Very well thought of film that, according to Rotten Tomatoes' "Critics Consensus," "expands upon themes and ideas only lightly explored in the original" -- a true statement, provided, of course, that by "themes and ideas" they mean "special effects." Adds nothing of substance either to Finney's book or Don Siegel's original film. Good cast (including Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, and Leonard Nimoy) goes largely to waste. With, however, one hilarious line, sarcastically directed at Veronica Cartwright's ancient astronauts character. And a cameo appearance by Kevin McCarthy as a paranoid pedestrian.
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