Customer Reviews

Matinee [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joe Dante, the evil mastermind behind "Gremlins," makes a nostalgic film that is even more enjoyable than his classic monster flick.

In 1962 Key West, young teen Gene (Simon Fenton) and his brother sit in the dark theater and see previews for Lawrence Woolsey's (John Goodman) new film "Mant," "half man, half ant, all terror!" Gene's father is absent, floating around in the Gulf of Mexico in the Cuban blockade. Everyone is nuclear-paranoid, as Gene's school holds atomic bomb drills. During one of these, cute Sandra (Lisa Jakub) rails against the silliness of the entire procedure, and catches the eye of Gene.

Being a naval base kid, Gene finds it hard to make friends. He does get to know Stan (Omri Katz), who is obsessed with pretty Sherry (Kellie Martin). Sherry has just ended a dangerous relationship with juvenile delinquent/poet Harvey (James Villemaire). With the threat of nuclear annihilation as a back drop, Gene gets involved with Woolsey when he comes to town with his leading lady Ruth (Cathy Moriarty). Woolsey welcomes the missile commotion, hoping to use it to his film's advantage. After Gene recognizes two of Woolsey's actors (Dick Miller and John Sayles) posing as outraged citizens trying to "stop" the film, the duo become friends.

Harvey threatens Stan for seeing Sherry. Harvey is then hired by Woolsey to both play a guy in a Mant suit, and to run all the backstage effects, including rumbling sounds and shock seats. The film wraps up at the premiere of "Mant," as Woolsey and Ruth must deal with a crazed Harvey, who kidnaps Sherry. Gene and Sandra get locked in a bomb shelter by a high strung theater manager (Robert Picardo), but the film must go on (even if the balcony begins to collapse from overcrowding).

The script was written by Charlie Haas, and it is fantastic. Dante makes a great teen comedy that does not resort to any stupid, "American Pie" activities. Although I was not born until six years after this was set, I still felt nostalgic for those halcyon days of youth. Dante captures the life of a military kid very well, I have almost two decades of Air Force brat-dom to back up my expertise. Dante uses special effects sparingly, so when they do pop up (an atomic nightmare, Woolsey's film), they are brilliant.

John Goodman is wonderful as the William Castle-like Woolsey. I have yet to see him turn in a bad performance on the big screen, TV's "Normal, Ohio" is another matter. Cathy Moriarty is a riot as his put-upon love interest. There is a great running gag where she dresses as a nurse as part of the film's publicity stunt, and children come to her with real medical problems.

The young cast all do well. Stan and Sherry, and Gene and Sandra, and poor Harvey are teens like we rarely see onscreen anymore- they seem normal. The teen's parents are also refreshingly smart, and I was surprised by this as well.

"Matinee" is one of those films I did not want to end when it did. I usually do not like TV series based on films, but I would have made an exception with this one. The film bombed (sorry) in the theater, so a sequel is not likely. I will be happy watching this again, however. It is funny, entertaining, and just plain great. I highly recommend it.

This is rated (PG) for mild gun violence, mild physical violence, some profanity, and some adult situations.

MATINEE is a fun movie about the movies. John Goodman plays a producer of monster films who premieres his latest, MANT in a Key West house called The Strand. This is right as the Cuban Missile Crisis is unfolding, so everyone's already scared to begin with. Goodman rigs the theater with a bunch of gadgets like joy buzzers in the seat cushions and Rumblerama, which shakes the hell out of everyone and he hires a kid to wear a Mant costume to run around in the audience.

Best thing about this story is Goodman's b&w movie, MANT. It's loaded with bad puns like, (Bill's wife:) "Oh, why can't they see Bill as a man and just put the insect aside?" Bill, who's been transformed into a giant ant panics and says, "Insecticide??!!??"

The doctor in MANT is played by Wllliam Schallert (Patty Duke's dad on her TV sitcom). Goodman uses two minor fright film actors to stir up trouble (and publicity) in town by bad mouthing MANT. One of them is Dick Miller, a Roger Corman favorite who ate flowers in THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) (VHS) (DVD). The other man is John Sayles: actor, writer, editor and director of such films as EIGHT MEN OUT (1988) (VHS) (DVD) and PASSION FISH (1992) (VHS) (DVD). This also marks Jesse White's last film appearance (he was the Maytag repairman on TV).

Although a point can be made that MATINEE is just a kid's movie, it's also for us older folks who can remember being a youngster in 1962, the music, culture and movies that enriched our lives but also events like the Missile Crisis, which so vividly reminded us in the words of John Kennedy, "that we are all mortal."


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(6.4) Matinee (1993) - John Goodman/Cathy Moriarty/Simon Fenton/Omri Katz/Lisa Jakub/Kellie Martin/Jesse Lee Soffer/Jesse White/Dick Miller/John Sayles (uncredited: William Schallert)

I was living in Key West when this was filmed. I remember all the blocked streets and calls for extras.It's the kind of film you can watch with your kids and not cringe. It takes me back to the days when I was a kid going to see old Vincent Price films. Good family fare.

Joe Dante (Gremlins) directs this truly wonderful film about the best Saturday ever for 4 kids.

Set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis the folks of Key West go to the movies. Cast here with John Goodman are a very young, but just as beautiful Kellie Martin (ER, Christy), and Lisa Jakub (Dream House & Wicked, Wicked West). You'll also recognize the 'Doctor' from Star Trek voyager as the theatre manager.

Still available on DVD even though the VHS is out of print. Very much well worth tracking down!

I only saw this movie because I wanted to see Kevin McCarthy, star of the original "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers." Joe Dante's "Matinee" is basically a movie for kids.

Gene(Simon Fenton) and his younger brother Dennis(Jesse Lee) are growing up in Key West Florida during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Their military officer father becomes actively involved in the crisis. During this tense period, Gene becomes involved with Lawrence Woolsey(John Goodman), an over-the-top promoter of low-budget horror films. Woolsey is presently trying to promote "Mant," a movie about a man who gradually transforms into a giant ant.

"Matinee" is basically a harmless kids' movie. The movie effectively captures the look and feel of early-1960s America. Dante seems to want to appeal to both baby boomers who were growing up during this era and teens of the 1990s, but he does a much better job of reaching out to the latter. Most of the story's emphasis is placed on the adventures and experiences of the young teenage characters. The film has some exciting moments. John Goodman is passable as the do-anything-for-thrill movie promoter, but Cathy Moriarty is badly wasted as his girlfriend and assistant. Thirteen years earlier, Moriarty was a stunning presence in Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" and it's a shame that she hasn't been offered more worthy projects. Omri Katz(Young John Ross of TV's "Dallas") plays one of Fenton's classmates. Kevin McCarthy briefly appears as an Army general in the movie within a movie. Some of the Woolsey character's promotional tactics are far too outrageous to be credible.

"Matinee" is mostly for kids and no one else.