Inside Job: Remembering "Innerspace" 35 Years Later

 By Michael Lyons

Innerspace should have been a blockbuster.  Produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Joe (Gremlins) Dante, the film was high-concept, combining science fiction and comedy, starring one of film's most likable actors and a loveable comedian who was starting to dabble in movies.

Additionally, it was released at the height of the summer movie season, it felt like a summer-escapist movie, and it was the '80s, the golden age of summer movies.  But, opening on July 1, 1987, just in time for the big Independence Day weekend, Innerspace came in at number three, behind the comic adaptation of the classic TV series Dragnet, the Stanley Kubrick Vietnam War drama Full Metal Jacket and just ahead of a re-issue of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

There have been a lot of "Monday morning quarterbacks" reviewing what happened to Innerspace. Some felt that the marketing for the film just didn't do it justice.  Trailers and commercials sold the film as a wacky, slapstick comedy, and posters positioned it more as a wondrous fantasy (a picture of a thumb and forefinger, with a miniature vehicle and tiny person, and the tag line: "An Adventure of Incredible Proportions").

Others felt that the script was somewhat "all over the place," with moments of wild comedy, comic-book-like villains, and an unnecessarily heavy plot.

The story of Innerspace seems pretty straightforward: a test pilot named Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) agrees to participate in an experiment where he and a spaceship-like vessel are to be miniaturized and injected into a rabbit to see what future applications this could have for doctors and medicine.

Of course, all goes wrong, and, instead, Tuck is accidentally injected into the body of an anxious, hypochondriacal grocery store employee, Jack Putter (Martin Short).  As they are quite literally stuck with each other, the two must find a way to get Tuck out of Jack before the film's villains, looking to steal the new technology, get to them. 

Innerspace has enough creativity to fill several movies.  Although not on screen together for most of the film, Quaid and Short have great chemistry, which helps create a strong bond between the two disparate characters.

Short is also at his most fearless, comedic best here and was the perfect choice for the worrisome Jack.  As Tuck devises a way to communicate with Jack from within his body, Jack's realization in a doctor's office that he may be possessed is still a hysterical highlight of the film.

Also, a highlight is the Oscar-winning special effects of Innerspace.  Bringing everything from the bloodstream to stomach acid to the heart to larger-than-life must not have been easy in the era of practical effects.  How this film did it is still a wonder to behold.

The supporting cast includes Meg Ryan as Tuck's love interest, Lydia, who adds sweetness and a romantic "love triangle" of sorts to the proceedings, and character actors Kevin McCarthy, Fiona Lewis, Robert Picardo, and Vernon Wells make for perfect, over-the-top villains.

It all comes together in a movie that's as enjoyable as movies get, and it's a shame that Innerspace was somewhat dismissed when it was released. Anniversaries of films always help to right old wrongs like this, and, as this summer marks thirty-five years since the release of Innerspace, it's the perfect time to, once again, go on the "fantastic voyage" this movie provides.

 When it was released on Blu-Ray in 2015, director Joe Dante, like so many, looked back fondly on his film when talking with the website Cinema Retro, saying that Innerspace was "probably the movie that I had made up to then that was the closest to my intention.  As a result, I was very happy with it.  When I look at it today, I still think it's a tremendous amount of fun."

Sources: cinemaretro.com 

My book Drawn to Greatness: Disney's Animation Renaissance is now available on Amazon!

Visit my website Words From Lyons for more of my articles and podcasts.

 

Steamy Cinema: Hollywood's Heatwave

 By Michael Lyons

 

"The best thing about a heat wave is constantly having the illusion you're getting exercise." - Unknown

 

Remember a few months ago when you complained about how chilly it was.  Not anymore, right?  Some areas that usually get snow for Memorial Day are sweltering.

While movies about cooler climates might seem like a great antidote, it could be a fun time to revel in the whole "misery loves company" mind frame and take a look back at just some of the many movies that have used heat waves at their backdrops (and a number of them take place in New York).

Here are some movies that have turned up the heat:

 

Rear Window (1954)

Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece.  Jimmy Stewart is a photojournalist recovering from a broken leg and confined to his apartment in Greenwich Village in New York City during a summer heatwave.

With nothing to do but stare out his window and watch the neighbors through their windows, he begins to believe that his neighbor may have murdered their wife.

Co-starring Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, and the fantastic courtyard movie set, Hitchcock makes another character in the film.  

Rear Window is not just one of the director's best and one of the best thrillers ever; it's a great "snapshot in time" of life in major cities before air conditioning was so common in summer (anyone for a nice snooze on their fire escapes?).

 

The Long, Hot Summer (1958)

The title says it all.  Based on stories from William Faulkner, this tale of Mississippi in the summer provides the backdrop for the tumultuous relationships of the Varner family.  A fantastic cast, including Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Orson Welles, and Angela Lansbury, perfectly directed by Martin Ritt, easily makes this pure Hollywood gold.

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Another iconic Hollywood classic uses a sweltering summer southern heat wave as a backdrop and metaphor.  Sidney Poitier is Virgil Tibbs, a police detective from Philadelphia who winds up investigating a murder in a small Mississippi town, clashing with the local police chief, played by Rod Stieger.  The two leads are incredible as they move from clashing adversaries to understanding allies. Throughout it all, director Norman Jewison's film is still relevant today.  

The Odd Couple (1968)

Alright, so maybe it's only the first act of the movie that takes place during a heat wave, but after that, you get the brilliant Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon as Felix and Oscar in this classic adaptation of Neil Simon's play about a slob and a neat freak, forced to live together after their divorces.

The opening heat wave scenes are hysterical, as Oscar has his poker buddies over for the weekly game when his air conditioner is broken.  Neil Simon's comedy gold follows: "Why don't we chip in three dollars a piece and buy another window?,” says one of the poker buddies. “How can you breathe in here?!"  And the rest of the film features summer in Manhattan as a backdrop.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Al Pacino is brilliant as a jittery bank robber who attempts to knock over the First Brooklyn Savings Bank on a sweltering summer day.  With outstanding supporting performances from John Cazale, James Broderick, Chris Sarandon, and Charles Durning, director Sidney Lumet has made a film that is tense, dramatic, funny, and almost documentary-like (particularly the feel of city summer heat).  What's most incredible is that it's based on a true story, and the "Attica!" scene is still one of the golden moments of 70s filmmaking.

Body Heat (1981)

Writer and director Lawrence Kasdan's brilliant thriller turns up the heat in many ways.  A throwback to Hollywood's golden age of noir thrillers, the film tells the story of a slick attorney (William Hurt) who gets involved with a wealthy businessman's wife (Kathleen Turner).

With its South Florida setting, there's plenty of steaminess here.  The two lead stars are great, and the conclusion is still a marvel of the "twist ending." 

 

Do the Right Thing (1989)

It's incredible how both of-it's-time and prescient this thirty-three-year-old film is.  Spike Lee's masterpiece is about one day, on one block in Brooklyn, during a heat wave, during which racial tensions explode as the temperature rises.

This rare film delivers on so many emotional levels and becomes more of a revelation each time one watches it.

 

Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

Bruce Willis' third outing as rogue police officer John McClane, trying to stop a mad bomber (Jeremy Irons) from destroying Manhattan and bringing along a reluctant citizen (a hilarious and sharp Samuel L. Jackson) in the process.

And New York City, in all its heat wave stickiness, is again the backdrop, complete with the Lovin' Spoonfuls hit song "Summer in the City" playing over the opening credits.

 

 

And these are just a few of the many heat wave movies out there.  So, when the summer temperatures become unbearable, let the movies bear it for you by heading inside, turning on the air conditioner to its "Arctic" setting, and enjoying one or all of these Hollywood heat wave films.

Stay cool, everyone!

My book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney's Animation Renaissance is now available on Amazon!

Enjoy more of my articles and podcasts at my website, Words From Lyons