moonspinner55 Review of On Golden Pond

On Golden Pond (1981)

Writer Ernest Thompson lives up to his name--he's dismally earnest

[5/10 · 29 May 2005]

One-Kleenex weeper about wily old curmudgeon and his wife taking in their estranged daughter's boyfriend's teenage son for the summer. Ernest Thompson adapted his hit play (and won an Oscar) but his material is hoary, pedagogic in the most condescending way, and unbelievably ham-handed. It's also so plastic that the capable cast can't overcome the theatricality of the entire occasion (this is the kind of movie where an early phone conversation with the local operator leads nowhere--she never even calls back as promised--it's just there to tell us how isolated in Mayberry we are). This is perhaps the worst performance by Jane Fonda I've seen, but of course she's stuck with a terrible role; her father's acid-tongued jabs at her are designed to appeal to us in the audience, while her resentment of being put-down by him is a signal for us to think she's a heartless bitch. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn won Oscars for their work in the leads, and they have a couple of sterling--indeed golden--moments together, but this is a very patchy vehicle, lightened by 'with it' humor and a fake-sincere happy ending. ** from ****