Steven Spielberg Fantasy Movie Always Leaves Netflix

One of the great paradoxes of old movies is that the more influential they are, the more predictable they become. Viewers have already seen generations of films that worked off the original blueprint. This predictability can be frustrating when showing a classic to someone for the first time. It is particularly noticeable with movies from the 1980s or earlier, which were made before American pop culture acquired a protective coating of reflexive irony.

Steven Spielberg’s Always is an unapologetic melodrama that pays homage to love stories from the golden age of Hollywood. It is also one of Spielberg’s smaller films, often overshadowed by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade released that same year. For viewers who have never seen Always, it streams on Netflix now, but it leaves the platform on Oct. 1.

Death can be the time of your life

Always is a remake of 1943’s A Guy Named Joe, a World War II movie starring Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne. The film carefully maintains much of that earlier style and tone. One viewer assumed Always was a period piece for the first twenty minutes until a character happened to mention that the year is 1989. The only conclusively modern element of the film is Holly Hunter’s haircut, which makes her look like one of the Bangles.

Pete, played by Richard Dreyfuss, flies a firefighting plane and is infamous in his field for taking unnecessary risks. Finally, his girlfriend Dorinda, played by Holly Hunter, puts her foot down. Pete must find a safer line of work, or she will leave him. Pete agrees to take a job as a flight instructor, but his luck runs out on his next mission.

After his death, Pete meets Hap, played by Audrey Hepburn in her final film role, who explains his new mission. As a spirit, Pete’s new job is to guide the living by providing them with direction and inspiration.

Over the course of the next year, Pete watches from the sidelines as his friends try to move on without him, including a grieving Dorinda. He has to balance the business he left unfinished in his life, such as the things he never managed to say to Dorinda, while clearing the way for everyone to move on from his death.

Normally, spoilers require caution. However, official plot summaries for Always are very clear about the fact that Pete dies. More to the point, the first thirty minutes of Always hit Pete with an obvious stack of death flags. Anyone going into the movie totally blind who has seen any other film in the last forty years will see Pete’s tragic death coming. It might not have been quite so obvious in 1989, but by now it does not even count as a twist.

That is not a criticism. Always plays out like jazz. Viewers see everything coming, but they are there for the journey rather than the destination. The cast features a who’s-who of great character actors including John Goodman, Keith David, and Marg Helgenberger. The script earns both its laughs and its moments of high drama, and Spielberg is at the top of his game. This is a movie about honest emotions, cool planes, and the occasional moment of inspired slapstick. It is a melodrama that is not ashamed of itself, particularly in the opening minutes when Dreyfuss and Hunter share the screen. Viewers wanting something genuine and heartfelt, especially fans of 1940s films, will find a strong choice in Always.

Source: Polygon