FILM REVIEW: The Fly (1986)

[Blarg]

I agree with your love for the film, and still remember the insect politician speech very, very fondly. It was chilling, yet obviously so painful for him to say. What a weird mix -- a guy being so afraid to make a threat that's at the same time such a devastating, horrible admission of loss -- the loss of his willpower and even entire humanity! And to do it to probably the one person he cares most about. To know the horror he is not only capable of but will shortly be unable to stop. It's a brilliant little speech, and Jeff Goldblum gave it so, so well. This was some of the best acting you could see, and amazingly enough, it was in a horror/sci-fi flick, the last place you usually expect to see something like that. For horror/sci-fi fans, a movie of this quality was a huge, unexpected gift.

I didn't know anyone who wasn't raving about the film when it came out and for quite a while after. Everyone loved this thing, and people were saying Goldblum definitely deserved an Oscar nomination. I agree; he did. Unfortunately, it seems to have somewhat gone the way of films that have come out in the last decade or two, being forgotten by those who didn't see it in the theater when it came out. I'm surprised when I bump into people who have never seen it, because it seems like blasphemy to me, and I wonder if maybe the insects have gotten to THEM.

Gina whatever her name is, the female lead, was good too, being genuinely emotional in some scenes in just the right way, and simply likeable in others. This very early piece was very close to the high point of her career, I think.

An amazingly good film. The script and the acting were of a practically unheard of level for anything remotely connected to horror or sci-fi. Incredibly watchable, a real joy.