The Goonies

Last week, my wife announced she wanted to watch a movie for the beginning of fall, something seasonally appropriate that would help her get in the mood for turning leaves, cider mills, cooler temperatures, and the approach of the holidays. Returning from the DVD cabinet, she had The Goonies in her hand. Yes, that Goonies. Richard Donner’s 1985 adventure tale starring a young Josh Brolin, Sean Astin, and Corey Feldman as part of a group of misfits and weirdos in Astoria, Oregon hunting for pirate treasure. I honestly wasn’t quite sure where she was going with it, but we sat down and watched, and to my surprise, it’s a perfectly appropriate fall movie. Despite the fact that none of the Goonies seem to be in school, the story is set in the fall. The film is full of rain, mist, falling leaves, and the melancholy sadness that comes with the end of summer. When the mandatory 80s movie evil rich people threaten to bulldoze the Goonies’ homes to make room for a golf course, the kids’ sadness at being the idea of separated feels a lot like the sadness my children feel when they have to go back to school and say goodbye to good times and warm weather. 

 The Goonies was directed by Richard Donner after he directed Superman and most of its first sequel and before he made the remarkably successful and lucrative Lethal Weapon series. He had other hits and misses in there, but between 1978 and 1998, he was one of Hollywood’s most reliable mainstream directors. With the Goonies, he hit the sweet spot of action, comedy, and thrills that were hallmarks of his other works, but there was also a sweetness and innocence that was more pronounced. Obviously, working with a gang of kids, most of whom hadn’t even reached puberty yet had a lot to do with that.

Sean Astin as the asthmatic dreamer Mikey Walsh is achingly sincere and convincing, even when having a heart-to-heart with a pirate skeleton. Josh Brolin as Brand, Mikey’s older brother, is surprisingly nuanced. He’s not just the menacing older brother who wants his dork sibling to leave him alone.  Instead, he is loving, protective, and irritated – all of which is much more interesting than a cardboard cutout of a mean older brother.

The plot of having the kids accidentally discover a map to pirate treasure that would enable them to pay off their houses and prevent foreclosure is, of course, kind of ridiculous, but the film plays it so light, the conceit never collapses. All of the disbelief-stretching moments just sort of tap dance over skepticism and almost dare jaded viewers to not go along. A disfigured monster man hidden in an underground dungeon? Sure. A network of tunnels under a modern American city dug by pirates and riddled with elaborate booby traps? You bet. An entire intact pirate ship loaded with gold and jewels just waiting to be discovered by kids who can barely work a vacuum cleaner? Why not? The film is all charm and doesn’t trouble with things like logic or physics. It’s too fun for that. All of that and wonderful performances by Anne Ramsey, Robert Davi, and Joe Pantoliano as the villainous criminal family, the Fratellis, hot on the kids trail explain why we are still watching, talking about, and laughing along with The Goonies nearly thirty five years after its release.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: I’m glad I listened to my wife. It was a cool evening outside when she and I watched it, and sitting around, laughing at the Truffle Shuffle and all of Chunk’s other hijinks along with Data’s inventions and Mouth’s smart allecky comments, felt cozy. It felt right. It felt like fall to me, and I anticipate an annual autumn viewing of The Goonies from here on out.