On Golden Pond (Special Edition)
by Mark Rydell
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dabney Coleman, Doug McKeon, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Katharine HepburnDirector: Mark Rydell
Brand: LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT
Cinematographer: Billy Williams
Editor: Robert L. Wolfe
Producer: Bruce Gilbert
Writer: Ernest Thompson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 109 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-12-16
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of On Golden Pond (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Saccharine melodrama and forced sympathies drive this rather bland film...
Summary: 3 Stars
I didn't hate this movie, but there is really nothing overly special about anything in it. The characters are clich? ridden and the acting, while universally solid, rarely transcends just that. There is nothing here that begs to be remembered really, and the generic and unrealistic way in which the plot is developed (and quite frankly, the lazy ending) is almost frustrating beings that the center moral concerning the fear of aging deserves a better canvas.
The film focuses on a elderly couple, Norman and Ethel Thayer, as they retreat to their cabin on Golden Pond to celebrate Norman's eightieth birthday. Norman is a crotchety old man (clich?) and Ethel is his feisty spirited wife (clich?) and so the two of them make for an interesting pair (or I should say, they would make for an interesting pair had this formula not been used in every movie). Their wayward daughter Chelsea decides to drop by to introduce her parents to her new boyfriend and ask them for a favor. She wants them to watch her boyfriend's son Billy Ray for a month while they slop away to Europe. She claims the boy will be miserable, but it's obvious that she will be miserable if the boy is with them.
What happens next is a `quote-unquote' heartwarming tale of an elderly man finding his youth in the eyes of a young boy who just needed a little love. Norman loses his hard edge when given the opportunity to bond with Billy Ray, and Billy finally finds someone to take an interest in him.
Something like that.
I had a hard time really taking this film all that seriously because it wasn't very serious. The subject and the issues dealt with are really very lightly handled, nothing ever truly sinking in to feel even remotely genuine. I especially found the `father/daughter' situation to be almost brushed under the rug, even though it's boasted as one of the films core situations.
The end resolve feels lazy to me.
This movie won Oscars for both Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda, and while they are serviceable here (and Katherine is actually quite hilarious throughout) there is nothing in these performances that demands to be rewarded, especially when you have much better performances nominated alongside these ones (Diane Keaton is extraordinary in `Reds' and Dudley Moore is comedic gold in `Arthur'). I can't say that these wins anger me, because they are not `bad', but they should not have garnered gold, that year or any for that matter. Even more baffling is the nomination for Jane Fonda who does nothing but cry, and even those tears are unconvincing. Her character arch is undeveloped and unfinished and thus incomplete and so her performance suffers from lack of real material.
The only performance I would consider as nomination worthy is that of Doug McKeon, who actually takes young Billy Ray and makes him a believable child with real issues and a halfway believable resolve.
So, what do I mean by all the `saccharine melodrama' and `forced sympathies' talk? Well, to be brutally honest, this film is a syrupy mess. Any actually sentiment is lost amidst the films pulpy atmosphere. Everything, from the overly clich?d characters to the sappy soap opera music begs the listener to fall in love with the surface characters, but the film fails to delve any deeper into who they really are. In the end, this feels like a rather pointless film that fails to deliver anything more than standard or average entertainment. It could have been so much better than it was had the script not been so predictably average.
Summary of On Golden Pond (Special Edition)
For Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer On Golden Pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years. Norman must find his way through his anger and fear of growing old, while Chelsea struggles to rebuild their relationship. Ethel's consistent support of her "knight in shining armor" is inspirational in its simplicity. This is a movie to ponder and always keep in your heart.System Requirements:
Starring: Dabney Coleman, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Katherine Hepburn, William Lanteau, and Doug McKeon.
Directed By: Mark Rydell.
Running Time: 105 Min., Color.
This film is presented in "Widescreen" format.
Copyright 2003 Artisan Entertainment.
Format: DVD MOVIE
Writer Ernest Thompson, who came up with the original stage play of On Golden Pond and adapted it for film, is lucky to have two giants of the screen give dignity and breadth to his sometimes trite dialogue. Henry Fonda, in his last role, plays a prickly English professor at the disagreeable age of 80. Visiting his summer house by a Maine lake with his wife (Katharine Hepburn), the old man forges an unlikely bond with a lonely boy, comes to terms with his daughter (Jane Fonda), and suffers disorienting effects of mild dementia. Even playing a tired old man, Fonda is an absolute lion of a movie star, and Hepburn brings her special spirit to the part of his worried bride. The onscreen relationship between Henry and Jane Fonda naturally makes one think about their much-discussed difficulties offscreen, but that's a side benefit in a movie that is really just a celebration of simple human decency. Directed by Mark Rydell (Harry and Walter Go to New York). --Tom Keogh
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