My Forgotten Summer Movie Pick - Always

We are now truly and deeply into summer. The hot days are here, and the blue sky and green trees are so intense, you almost want to ask them to back off a little. It’s one of my favorite times of the year, and as usual, I offer you my suggestion for a film that encapsulates the summer vibe. This year, my suggestion is one of my beloved favorites, and in fact, is the movie that I mention whenever people ask me what my all-time favorite is: Steven Spielberg’s underappreciated, largely unseen 1989 ghost love story, Always. 

 Set in the contemporary American west, it tells the story of Pete Sandich, a pilot who is a forest firefighter. He fills up his flying tanker with lake water or fire retardant and then dive-bombs forest fires to help the men on the ground. Pete’s girlfriend, Dorinda, works the control tower at their remote fire base in Montana and ties herself up in knots every time her hotshot boyfriend takes to the skies. Her anxiety is justified when, after saving his best friend from certain doom by putting out a fire in his plane, Pete meets his end in a spectacular fireball over the forest. Much to Pete’s surprise, though dead, he meets up with Hap, an angel, who assigns him to be a kind of guardian/inspiration over another young pilot coming up in the world. It’s all fine and good until Pete realizes that this new pilot is in love with Dorinda who is still grieving Pete’s loss. 

Richard Dreyfuss plays Pete and Holly Hunter is Dorinda, and I don’t think there’s a more underrated romantic pair from the 1980s. The two are powerhouses of charm, tenderness, and remarkably nuanced performance. Watching them play this ill-fated but loving couple is like watching two birds fly. They were made to do it, and it comes so easily to them, it seems like play rather than work.

Another distinction for Always is that it was Audrey Hepburn’s final film. She plays Hap, the angel who assigns Pete and then corrects him when he goes off track later in the picture. Casting the divine Ms. Hepburn as an angel may seem a little on the nose, but of course, she is perfect. She’s only onscreen for a few minutes each time, but she radiates goodness, love, and compassion in every frame, and she is a pleasure to watch. 

 The film is set amid the mountains of Montana and the desert wastes of Colorado in the middle of summer, the height of forest fire season. Mikael Solamon’s cinematography is golden, glossy, and beautiful. He makes everything look like the epitome of invincible summer.

The firefighting scenes are realistic and well-staged, thanks in no small part to the fact that Spielberg shot footage in Yellowstone Park during the summer of 1988 when much of that majestic place actually was on fire. It adds a lot of production value when nature provides the special effects for you.

Part of why I have such an emotional attachment to Always is I grew up ninety minutes from Yellowstone and spent the entire summer of 1988 delivering newspapers under a sun that was blood red because of all the smoke in the air. When Always came out the following year, it was a thrill to have a small but tactile connection to it.  

But you don’t have to have a biographical connection in order to enjoy it. Spielberg was at the height of his commercial, crowd-pleasing powers, and each performer gives a distinct, entertaining performance. I haven’t even mentioned John Goodman’s ebullient turn as Al, Pete’s best friend. The cinematography, editing, and music are all world-class. The film is warm, fun, beautiful, and it makes me love the world a little more than I already do. And that sounds like summer to me. So if you haven’t already, seek out Steven Spielberg’s Always and spend a summer night enjoying it.