Movie Review - Matinee

Matinee (1993)

Universal Pictures / Renfield Productions / Falcon Productions : American Broadcasting Corporation / Image Entertainment / MCA Universal Home Video

6 / 10

This is a strange film that sits in a weird void between genres and styles and thus doesn't seem to work quite as well as Joe Dante's other works.  The good thing is that you can tell this is a Joe Dante film, so if you liked Gremlins, Small Soldiers, Innerspace, etc, then you will probably enjoy this tale.

It's set at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and try's to build on the troubles and worries of the people at this period in time.  Enter Lawrence Woolsey, played enthusiastically by John Goodman and his assistant Ruth Corday, portrayed by Cathy Moriarty, who is in town to promote his new B-movie "MANT!", for which he is also pushing "Atomo-Vision".  Then there's the story of the town's teenagers, who become involved in helping Woolsey in his venture.  However, this is where the story starts to fall flat as some of these tales are bland, to the point of boring.  Simon Fenton, playing Gene Loomis, gives an okay performance.  Though the rest of the younger cast are below average, which is a shame as Omri Katz did good work on Hocus Pocus and Eerie, Indiana; and Kellie Martin who has given decent performances throughout her ongoing career.  Robert Picardo gives a wonderful comic performance as the Theater Manager, Howard, who is more interested in the Crisis than what's happening in his movie theatre.

There are some good scenes in the film, especially concerning the B-movie "MANT!", and Joe Dante's direction, John Goodman's and Robert Picardo's acting keep it just interesting enough to keep your finger off the stop and eject button.

If one Sunday winter afternoon there's nothing on worth watching and this appears in the guide, then I would say, "grab a coffee and some chocky biscuits, settle down and chill to this movie."

Trailer

MANT! Trailer

MANT! (Short Film)