Pontiac Moon

I saw it 20 years ago once and was looking for it since as I could not remember the title, but could not forget the simple and yet very touching story. The story is about LOVE. a "must see"family movie. i think it is as good as the "Christmas Story", showing that one can have a fairly good childhood even with crazy parents. I love characters in it, the geeky father and agoraphobic mother, the kid who is about to start to suspect that his parents are not as good as "others'". I like the plot of the film that is about a journey to reach the "Craters of the Moon National Park" in Idaho and drive an exact amount of miles to scale the real distance Apollo had to make. the father and son have to go quite a distance from California through Montana to make the miles match. The story gets more interesting as the mother has to overcome her fears to join them, ultimately saving her family and marriage.

While the story presented as a memoir of the child the overt part of the plot is quite simplistic. Yet what actually happens on unspoken level is extremely dramatic and revolutionary, even for just one family. For me it was the key to my enjoyment of the whole film. The simplicity of a road movie reflects just the quality of the childhood memory, deliberately put there to give the film a tone, yet symbolic meaning of it has so many layers. In short, this could be just a dream or fantasy where anything goes and open for the endless interpretations. Especially towards the end of the film things are supposed to get really dreamy and even bizarre.

This is a good film for anyone who was a kid at the time of the Apollo Moon Landings and can remember how it felt to be alive at a momentous time in World History.

The film oozes period nostalgia and the scenery on the roadtrip to The Peaks of the Moon in Idaho is quite breathtaking, and the relationship between the Ted Danson character and his young son is quite touching.

You cant expect anyone who wasn't alive at the time this movie was set to appreciate the feelings that the story creates, this is one for those who still retain those feelings of innocense and the feelings of hope that you had; being young in 1969.

It's more than just a movie, it unlocks feelings and emotions you thought you had long forgotten. Not a movie for the cynical, or for the Nintendo generation whom have no historical perspective and no idea what it was like to alive when the World was a place of hope.

A beautiful, poignant film. An agoraphobic's imaginative but troubled husband takes off with their son in a 1949 Pontiac to mark the 1969 lunar mission with a 'perfect act:' To match the mileage on the Pontiac and their arrival at a national park 'moon' crater to coincide with the distance to the moon and the astronauts' landing at 'Tranquility Base.' The agoraphobic wife overcomes her self-imposed, seven-year confinement in their house to pursue them in another unusual vehicle from her husband's collection. Various misadventures ensue. Watch for 'cameos.'

I loved the accuracy of the movie - the cars, the clothes...but at the end, when the men land on the Moon, it was July 20th, 1969 - but they show the moon as full - I remember looking at the moon that night, and have check the lunar phases calender - it was waxing crescent, and did not phase to full until July 29th. I really liked the acting, and think Ted really had fun playing this part. Lots of odd surprises and interesting characters. The photography was really well done too, beautiful shots of the amazing scenery. If you want to sit down with a bag of pop corn with the entire family, there is something there for everyone. Educational quotations, write from wrong, bad guys get whooped, and a small history lesson - it has it all.

If you're the kind of moviegoer who looks for goofs, loopholes, anachronisms & inconsistencies, then you may find yourself hating this film. But I'm going to share with you one realization that turned the whole thing around for me:

The plot of the film centers around a journey to reach the "Spires of the Moon National Park", but in real life, there is no such park.

This piece of trivia may not seem significant, but for me it was the key to my enjoyment of the whole film. Suddenly it dawned on me that, just like the fictitious National Park which has no basis in fact, other "goofs" were deliberately put there to give the film a surreal, tongue-in-cheek quality. In short, this is pure fantasy where anything goes.

And trust me, the last 20 minutes requires some heavy suspension of disbelief (the same way a '49 Pontiac Eight would require a whole new suspension if you put a 455 engine in there like they did)! The last 20 minutes featured things that were so absolutely wrong, it felt like a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker movie ("Airplane!"), and I believe in its own subtle way, that was the intent of the filmmakers. So just bear in mind, things are supposed to get bizarre and dreamy.

Now on to the movie as a whole...

The story is refreshingly original. A wacky schoolteacher father (Ted Danson) decides to temporarily abscond with his sheltered son (Ryan Todd) in an impulsive effort to achieve "one perfect act", much to the chagrin of the agoraphobic mother (Mary Steenburgen, Dansons wife) who hasn't left the house in 7 years. What follows is a cute road movie full of interesting characters and a few preposterous action scenes (but now remember what I told you about suspension of disbelief) while past family mysteries slowly unravel themselves. Everything leads lead us to an outrageous conclusion that will either leave you sighing with delight or hurling apple pie at the TV screen.

This film is a one-of-a-kind. At first it felt like a sappy "E.T." type flick, but it soon morphs into something more along the lines of "Edward Scissorhands" only without the satire & quirkiness, then slips into something like the "Dukes of Hazzard" TV series, before bringing us to something reminiscent of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".

This is a very polished production with some memorable moments. The acting sometimes seems over the top, but that's the point (Danson & Steenburgen portraying polar extremes of lunacy). I didn't care for the musical soundtrack in the first half which seemed to upstage dialogue, but in the latter half the film featured well-placed nostalgic hits such as "Crimson & Clover", "Let's Get Together" (smile on your brother) and "Cheek to Cheek". The director Peter Medak, known for his prolific work on 70s-80s TV, did a nice job with some stylish visuals (watch for the car carrier under the stars and tell me how the heck he pulled that off!).

If you're prepared for a wild ride, especially if you are able to experience the movie as if it were a dream, you'll enjoy yourself. I must confess, cynical old curmudgeon that I am, I hated this movie through most of it. But I'm ready to watch it again through rose colored glasses and have fun the 2nd time around. Here's hoping you can skip the hatred part.