Cocoon (film)
{{short description|1985 film by Ron Howard}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Cocoon
| image = Cocoonposter.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
| director = Ron Howard
| producer = {{Plainlist|
}}
| story = David Saperstein
| screenplay = Tom Benedek
| starring = {{Plainlist|
- Don Ameche
- Wilford Brimley
- Hume Cronyn
- Brian Dennehy
- Jack Gilford
- Steve Guttenberg
- Maureen Stapleton
- Jessica Tandy
- Gwen Verdon
- Herta Ware
- Tahnee Welch
}}
| music = James Horner
| cinematography = Donald Peterman{{cite news |title=Perry Moore, 'Narnia' series executive producer, dies at 39; Don Peterman, Oscar-nominated cinematographer, dies at 79; Nancy Carr, network TV publicist, dies at 50 |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20110221,0,2646777.story |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2011-02-22 |access-date=2011-02-23 |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192237/http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20110221,0,2646777.story |url-status=live}}
| editing = {{Plainlist|
}}
| studio = Zanuck/Brown Company{{cite web |title=Cocoon (1985) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b69b77775 |website=BFI |access-date=December 6, 2020 |archive-date=March 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322011254/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b69b77775 |url-status=dead}}
| distributor = 20th Century Fox
| released = {{Film date|1985|06|21}}
| runtime = 117 minutes{{cite web | url=https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/cocoon-0 | title=COCOON (PG) (!) | work=British Board of Film Classification | date=August 15, 1985 | access-date=July 10, 2015 | archive-date=July 11, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711230037/http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/cocoon-0 | url-status=dead}}
| country = United States
| language = English
}}
Cocoon is a 1985 American science fiction comedy drama film directed by Ron Howard and written by Tom Benedek from a story by David Saperstein.{{cite book |author=Cynthia Whitcomb |title=The Heart of the Film: Writing Love Stories in Screenplays |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sCklDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 |year=2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-315-51320-1 |page=93}} The film stars Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Herta Ware, Tahnee Welch, and Linda Harrison, and follows a group of elderly people rejuvenated by aliens.{{cite news|title= Hot Howard Actor-turned-director Makes Another Splash With 'Cocoon'|work= Sun Sentinel|url= http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-09/features/8501270925_1_cocoon-ron-howard-movie|access-date= 2010-11-07|archive-date= May 26, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130526051026/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-09/features/8501270925_1_cocoon-ron-howard-movie|url-status= dead}}{{cite news|title=Back In Splash Of Things With Cocoon|work=Los Angeles Times|date=1985-06-12|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-06-12-ca-6289-story.html|access-date=2010-11-07|first=David T.|last=Friendly|archive-date=July 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712024325/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-12/entertainment/ca-6289_1_ron-howard|url-status=live}}
The film was shot in and around St. Petersburg, Florida, with locations including the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, Suncoast Manor Retirement Community, the Coliseum, and Snell Arcade buildings. The film earned Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Don Ameche) and Best Visual Effects, and was followed by the sequel Cocoon: The Return in 1988, in which almost all of the original cast returned.{{cite news |title=Cocoon & Its Sequels |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1988-11-27 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-27-ca-675-story.html |access-date=2010-11-07 |first=Pat H. |last=Broeske |archive-date=January 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102182643/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-11-27/entertainment/ca-675_1_screen-sequel |url-status=live}}
Plot
About 10,000 years ago, peaceful aliens from the planet Antarea established an outpost on Earth, on Atlantis. When Atlantis sank, 20 aliens were left behind, kept alive in large rock-like cocoons at the bottom of the ocean. A group of Antareans have returned to collect them. Disguising themselves as humans, they rent a house with a swimming pool and charge the water with "life force" to give the cocooned Antareans energy to survive the trip home. They charter a boat, the Manta III, from a local captain named Jack, who helps them retrieve the cocoons. Jack spies on Kitty, a beautiful woman from the team who chartered his boat, while she undresses in her cabin, and discovers that she is an alien. After the aliens reveal themselves to him and explain what is going on, he decides to help them.
Next door to the house the Antareans are renting is a retirement home. Three of its residents, Ben, Arthur, and Joe, often trespass to swim in the pool. They absorb some of the life force, making them feel younger and stronger. Eventually caught in the act, they are permitted to use the pool by the Antarean leader, Walter, on the condition that they do not touch the cocoons or tell anybody else about it. Rejuvenated with youthful energy, the three men let the pool's advantages take hold as they were relieved of their ailments.
Kitty and Jack grow closer and decide to make love in the pool. Since she cannot do so in the human manner, she introduces him to the Antarean equivalent, in which she shares her life force energy with him.{{cite web|url=http://www.ugo.com/therush/character-study-kitty|title=Character study: Kitty|work=The Rush|publisher=UGO Film and TV|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222115314/http://www.ugo.com/therush/character-study-kitty|archive-date=February 22, 2014|df=mdy-all}}
The other retirement home residents become suspicious after witnessing Mary, Ben's wife, climb a tree. Their friend Bernie accidentally reveals the pool's secret to the other residents, who rush to the pool to swim in its waters. When Walter finds them damaging one of the cocoons, he ejects them from the property. The Antareans open the damaged cocoon, and the creature inside shares his last moments with Walter. That evening, Bernie finds his wife Rose has stopped breathing and carries her body to the pool to heal her, only to be informed by Walter that the pool no longer works due to the other residents draining the life force in the rush to make themselves young.
Walter explains that the cocoons cannot survive the trip back to Antarea, but will be able to survive on Earth. With the help of Jack, Ben, Arthur, and Joe, the Antareans return the cocoons to the sea. The Antareans offer to take residents of the retirement home with them to Antarea, where they will never grow older and never die. Most of them accept the offer, but Bernie chooses to remain on Earth.
Upon leaving, Ben tells his grandson David that he and Mary are leaving for good. As the residents are leaving, David's mother, Susan, finds out about their destination and drives to the retirement home, where they find the majority of the rooms vacant and contact local authorities.
While the police are searching for the residents in the dark, David notices Jack's boat being started, with the Antareans and the retirement residents aboard. He runs toward it as fast as he can, and as the Manta III pulls away from the dock, leaps across the gap, clings to its side, and is pulled aboard by Ben. The boat is chased by the Coast Guard, so with little time left, David says goodbye to Ben and Mary before jumping into the sea. The Coast Guard boats stop to pick him up, giving the others a chance to get away. A thick, mysterious fog appears suddenly, stranding the remaining Coast Guard boats and causing the Manta III to disappear from their radar, so they call off the chase.
As the Antarean ship appears overhead, Walter pays Jack for his services and his boat. Jack embraces Kitty for the last time, and they share a kiss. He then says farewell to everyone before jumping into an inflatable life raft as the Manta III rises into the Antarean vessel. Jack watches as it disappears inside the ship and departs.
Back on land, a tearful memorial service is held on a beach for the missing residents. During the sermon, David looks toward the sky and smiles.
Cast
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
- Don Ameche as Art Selwyn
- Wilford Brimley as Ben Luckett
- Hume Cronyn as Joe Finley
- Brian Dennehy as Walter
- Jack Gilford as Bernie Lefkowitz
- Steve Guttenberg as Jack Bonner
- Maureen Stapleton as Mary Luckett
- Jessica Tandy as Alma Finley
- Gwen Verdon as Bess McCarthy
- Herta Ware as Rose Lefkowitz
- Tahnee Welch as Kitty
- Barret Oliver as David
- Linda Harrison as Susan
- Tyrone Power Jr. as Pillsbury
- Clint Howard as John Dexter
- Charles Lampkin as Pops
- Rance Howard as St. Petersburg detective
- Jim Fitzpatrick as Dock Worker (uncredited)
{{div col end}}
Casting for the film and its sequel was overseen by casting director Beverly McDermott.{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Jicha |title=Beverly McDermott, top casting director and Hollywood resident, dies |url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hollywood/fl-obit-beverly-mcdermott-20120120,0,1215353.story |work=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |date=2012-01-20 |access-date=2012-01-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211224043/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/hollywood/fl-obit-beverly-mcdermott-20120120%2C0%2C1215353.story |archive-date=February 11, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}
Production
Robert Zemeckis was originally hired as director, and spent a year working on it in development. He was at the time directing Romancing the Stone, another film for the same studio, 20th Century Fox. Fox executives previewed Romancing the Stone before its release in 1984 and hated it. That, in addition to his two previous directorial efforts, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars, both being commercial failures — though critically acclaimed — led Fox to fire Zemeckis as director of Cocoon. He was replaced with Ron Howard.
Location filming took place in St. Petersburg, Florida, between August 20 and November 1, 1984.{{cite news|url=https://www.tampabay.com/features/celebrities/looking-back-ron-howard-writes-st-petersburgs-ticket-to-hollywood-1984-1985/2316799/|title=Looking Back: Ron Howard and Cocoon write St. Petersburg's ticket to Hollywood (1984-1985)|work=Tampa Bay Times|first=Jeremy|last=King|date=March 16, 2017|access-date=May 19, 2019|archive-date=February 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228133441/http://www.tampabay.com/features/celebrities/looking-back-ron-howard-writes-st-petersburgs-ticket-to-hollywood-1984-1985/2316799|url-status=live}}
Wilford Brimley was only 49 when he was cast as a senior citizen, and turned 50 during filming; he was as much as 26 years younger than the actors playing the other elderly characters. In order to look the part, Brimley bleached his hair and moustache to turn them gray, and had wrinkles and liver spots drawn on his face.{{cite book |title=Monster Squad: Celebrating the Artists Behind Cinema's Most Memorable Creatures |first=Heather A. |last=Wixson |publisher=BearManor Media |year=2017 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ey4_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |access-date=September 19, 2020 |archive-date=October 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008130057/https://books.google.com/books?id=ey4_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |url-status=live}}
Soundtrack
{{Infobox album|
| name = Cocoon
| type = Film score
| artist = James Horner
| cover =
| alt =
| released = 1985
September 1997
| recorded = 1985
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Soundtrack
| length = 44:23
| label = Polydor
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
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}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = Filmtracks
}}
The score for Cocoon was composed and conducted by James Horner and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. The soundtrack was released twice, through Polydor Records in 1985 and a reprint through P.E.G. in 1997 and features eleven tracks of score and a vocal track performed by Michael Sembello. Despite the reprint, it is still considered a rarity among soundtrack collectors.[http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/cocoon.html Cocoon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122213247/http://filmtracks.com/titles/cocoon.html |date=November 22, 2010}} soundtrack review at [http://www.filmtracks.com Filmtracks.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127111457/http://www.filmtracks.com/ |date=January 27, 2011}}
In 2013, an expanded soundtrack consisting of over 62 minutes of Horner's score was released by the Intrada label.[http://jameshorner-filmmusic.com/cocoon-expanded-release-intrada/ Cocoon Expanded Release by Intrada] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601000228/http://jameshorner-filmmusic.com/cocoon-expanded-release-intrada/ |date=June 1, 2023}}
Reception
Cocoon received mostly positive critical reception. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that "Mr. Howard brings a real sweetness to his subject, as does the film's fine cast of veteran stars; he has also given Cocoon the bright, expansive look of a hot-weather hit. And even when the film begins to falter, as it does in its latter sections, Mr. Howard's touch remains reasonably steady. He does the most he can with material that, after an immensely promising opening, heads into the predictable territory of Spielberg-inspired beatific science fiction".{{cite news|title= Screen: 'cocoon' opens|work= The New York Times|date=1985-06-21|url= https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9400E7D81039F932A15755C0A963948260|access-date=2010-11-07|first=Janet|last=Maslin}} Variety called it "a fountain of youth fable, which imaginatively melds galaxy fantasy with the lives of aging mortals in a Florida retirement home [and] weaves a mesmerizing tale".{{cite news|title= Cocoon|work= Variety|date= 1984-12-31|url= https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117789990.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|access-date= 2010-11-07|archive-date= May 17, 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090517064448/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117789990.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|url-status= live}}
The film holds an 82% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 49 critics. The critical consensus reads: "Though it may be too sentimental for some, Ron Howard's supernatural tale of eternal youth is gentle and heartwarming, touching on poignant issues of age in the process".{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cocoon/ |title=Cocoon |access-date=2023-11-12 |work=Rotten Tomatoes}} Metacritic gave the film a score of 65 based on 18 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cocoon|title=Cocoon Reviews|website=Metacritic}}
The film was also a box office hit, making over $76 million in North America where it became the sixth highest-grossing film of 1985.{{Cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1985&p=.htm |title=Box Office Mojo (1985) |access-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-date=December 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216051236/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1985&p=.htm |url-status=live}}
Accolades
Brimley/''Cocoon'' line meme
Wilford Brimley's age during the production and release of the film has been the subject of a popular Internet meme concerning aging. Brimley, who was only 50 years old when the film was released, was relatively young to play a senior citizen. When Tom Cruise turned 50 in 2012, many juxtaposed his role in the ongoing Mission: Impossible franchise to Brimley's role in Cocoon, noting that Cruise was continuing to headline a major action franchise at the same age Brimley played an aging senior (coincidentally, both Cruise and Brimley starred together in The Firm in 1993). This has resulted in the Brimley/Cocoon line meme, in which an actor who reaches 18,530 days of age (the exact age Brimley was when Cocoon premiered) has crossed it. A 2018 article in The New Yorker by Ian Crouch argued that the meme highlighted how perceptions of aging have changed since the release of Cocoon.{{cite magazine |last1=Crouch |first1=Ian |title=The Wilford Brimley Meme That Helps Measure Tom Cruise's Agelessness |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-wilford-brimley-meme-that-helps-measure-tom-cruises-agelessness |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=21 October 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0088933|Cocoon}}
- {{TCMDb title|71162|Cocoon}}
- {{Mojo title|cocoon|Cocoon}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes|cocoon|Cocoon}}
{{Ron Howard}}
{{Academy Award Best Visual Effects}}
Category:1980s fantasy comedy-drama films
Category:1980s science fiction comedy-drama films
Category:20th Century Fox films
Category:American fantasy comedy-drama films
Category:American science fiction comedy-drama films
Category:1980s English-language films
Category:Films about ancient astronauts
Category:Films scored by James Horner
Category:Films about health care
Category:Films about grandparent–grandchild relationships
Category:Films directed by Ron Howard
Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award–winning performance
Category:Films produced by David Brown
Category:Films produced by Richard D. Zanuck
Category:Films set in Atlantis
Category:Films shot in Florida
Category:Films shot in the Bahamas
Category:Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award
Category:Polydor Records soundtracks
Category:The Zanuck Company films
Category:1985 science fiction films
Category:English-language fantasy comedy-drama films
Category:English-language science fiction comedy-drama films