Movies You Have Not Seen But You Should See (Because They Are Good) #10
At one point, a long time ago, Dabney Coleman was the king shit.
You have to understand that at this time, Dabney Coleman was the definition of irascible authority figure. If you needed a tough bastard who deep down (often very very deep down) had a heart of gold, Dabney Coleman was your first and only choice. (Well, unless Howard Hesseman was available, but let’s face it, Howard Hesseman carries with him a streak of anti-authoritarianism that sometimes fails to work in establishment roles.)
But sometimes, you gotta stretch a bit.
Wait, they made Super Mario Brothers, and that’s kind of like a Donkey Kong movie. I retract my previous statement.
Regardless. Considering that the Cloak and Dagger videogame did not, as such, have a plot, the screenwriters basically went apeshit and put the actual video game in the movie as a plot element, using it to smuggle important spy document sorts of things. Henry Thomas (Elliot in E.T.) stars as the kid hero who daydreams of being a super-spy, adventuring alongside his hero, super-spy (and star of both roleplaying game and video game) Jack Flack. And of course, his ludicrous adventures turn awry when he actually stumbles upon a real spy conspiracy - and of course nobody believes him.
And Coleman - Coleman plays a double role, and it’s a brilliant turn - as both the boy’s father and as his fantasy of Jack Flack. The two roles play off each other perfectly, the sober responsibility of the father contrasting in just about every way with Ideal Boyhood Companion (and pretty much insane) Flack; Coleman switches roles easily and smoothly, never letting Flack and Dad coincide, even for a moment - which works out perfectly when Flack turns out to be, unsurprisingly, pretty much useless for anything serious and Dad has to go full-on enraged papa bear to save his son from the actual real terrorists.
It’s an excellent family movie, and one of the few good family-appropriate thrillers extant period. (It’s not exactly a genre that gets a lot of play, after all.) It’s exciting on its own merits, frequently a little bit scary (and I am a firm believer that there is nothing wrong with family movies being a bit scary). And it has Dabney Coleman in it. What more could you ask?
March 25th, 2008 la 9:17 am
And I’d just been thinking about adding that to my Amazon wish list, too. After reading that and remembering how much fun that movie was, It Must Be Mine.
Ah, cheesy 80’s quasi-action movies, how I miss you.
March 25th, 2008 la 9:43 am
Great flick. I remember the scene where the goon threatens to shoot Henry Thomas in the stomach and describes to him how painful a death it will be. And this was a kid’s film!
March 25th, 2008 la 9:58 am
Thanks for the memories. I hadn’t thought about that movie in years — and it was great.
March 25th, 2008 la 10:48 am
Ha! I actually hvae seen this one.
And I like it! HA!
March 25th, 2008 la 10:55 am
“I remember the scene where the goon threatens to shoot Henry Thomas in the stomach and describes to him how painful a death it will be”
Yeah, that’s the part that’s still with me, although in my memory, it has to do with kneecaps.
Wow. It must have been about 20 years since I last watched this. Probably still sitting on a tape in my mom’s basement.
March 25th, 2008 la 11:39 am
I am not ashamed to admit that at one time I really wanted an imaginary Dabney Coleman of my own.
I also remember as a wee lass (already afflicted with early onset fantasy fictionitis) being slightly disappointed by the lack of actual cloaks and daggers in this film. But I still enjoyed it. Especially the descriptive gut-shot scene.
March 25th, 2008 la 12:21 pm
An early childhood fave of mine..
March 25th, 2008 la 1:08 pm
Seen it too many times and that little girl always annoyed the hell out of me.
I preferred Midnight Madness and Krull.
March 25th, 2008 la 3:19 pm
Coleman was great. It’s a pity he never really got the fame he deserved.
He was awesome in Wargames: “I don’t have to take that, you pig-eyed sack of shit.”
March 25th, 2008 la 4:58 pm
OMG. Cloak & Dagger!
Flight of the Navigator! The B.R.A.T. Patrol! The Last Starfighter! I-Man!
And thus the floodgates of 80s memories were opened, and the chocolate grenades and blinky-morse code recollections flooded my brain.
And it was good.
Nice, MGK. Very, very nice.
March 26th, 2008 la 12:28 am
OH MY GOD.
I have seen this on cable, and I kind of regret it not being part of my childhood, because it was “before my time”. It was pretty awesome, and way better than the Home Alone movie based on an important game. Which, sadly, was part of my childhood.
Macauly Culkin (sp?) should not be part of anyone’s childhood.
Are you going to do cartoon movies people haven’t seen but should have because there are good? Because I love me some obscure cartoons.
March 26th, 2008 la 4:59 am
Man, oh man, there must be some geek hive mind shit going on ’round here. I was just thinking about how much I missed this flick the other day. Gotta find it at the video store now…
March 26th, 2008 la 10:54 am
“Jack Flack always escapes!”
I’ve rarely seen a better early-setup-and-last-reel-payoff than that line.
March 26th, 2008 la 12:05 pm
Gah! I loved that movie so hard! Thanks for the reminder.
March 26th, 2008 la 7:02 pm
I haven’t seen this years. And years. And years.
Although I seem to recall being slightly annoyed that it had nothing to do with the video game.
I should dig out my Atari 2600 when I’m back in Canada. Put it on an HDTV and be amazed at how well the graphics still hold up.
March 31st, 2008 la 9:53 pm
[…] Hot damn, Cloak and Dagger. I definitely remember friends of mine watching this in my youth. That said, all I can actually […]