6.6
When a group of trespassing seniors swim in a pool containing alien cocoons, they find themselves energized with youthful vigor.
Steve Guttenberg
Jack Bonner
Tahnee Welch
Kitty
Brian Dennehy
Walter
Don Ameche
Arthur Selwyn
Wilford Brimley
Benjamin Luckett
Hume Cronyn
Joseph Finley
Maureen Stapleton
Mary Luckett
Jack Gilford
Bernie Lefkowitz
Jessica Tandy
Alma Finley
Clint Howard
John Dexter
Linda Harrison
Susan
Gwen Verdon
Bess McCarthy
Herta Ware
Rosie Lefkowitz
Barret Oliver
David
Tyrone Power Jr.
Pillsbury
Mike Nomad
Doc
Jorge Gil
Lou Pine
James Ritz
DMV Clerk
Charles Rainsbury
Smiley
Wendy J. Cooke
Alien
Pamela Prescott
Alien
Dinah Sue Rowley
Alien
Gabriella Sinclair
Alien
Cyndi Vicino
Bank Teller
Russ Wheeler
Doctor
Harold Bergman
Reverend
Ivy Thayer
Waitress
Fred Broderson
Kirk
Mark Cheresnick
Salvatore
Bette Shoor
Realtor
Mark Simpson
Coast Guard First Class BM
Robert Slacum Jr.
Coast Guard Second Class BM
Rance Howard
St. Petersburg Dectective
Jean Speegle Howard
Woman
Charles Voelker
Leader, New Yorkers Dance Band
Irving Krone
Jasper
Clarence Thomas
Policeman
Ted Science
Policeman
Jim Fitzpatrick
Dock Worker
Tracy Roberts
Bar Patron
Charles Lampkin
Pops
Director
Ron Howard
Screenplay
Tom Benedek
Story
David Saperstein
July 20, 2020
8
_**Discovering the "fountain of youth"**_
On the surface "Cocoon" (1985) is about elderly folks at a retirement home in Florida unknowingly finding the "fountain of youth" via a pool on an adjacent property. A peculiar group of people rent the property to store boulder-like objects they take from the bottom of the ocean. As such, the pool acquires healing powers and restore's the old folk's youthful vigor.
Steve Guttenberg stars as the likable protagonist, the boat owner/operator who helps the people get to the objects in the ocean, but he has no idea what's really going on. The stunning Tahnee Welch, Raquel's daughter, plays one of the members of the peculiar group to whom Guttenberg's character takes a liking. Unlike Raquel, who's known for being a bit biyatchy, Tahnee shines with a winsome disposition. Brian Dennehy is also on hand as the leader of the odd group, and he does very well.
Most great movies have a deeper subtext, and so it is with "Cocoon." The story is a commentary on aging, death, grieving and the yearning for eternal life. The people of the peculiar group are types of angels or, better yet, the redeemed in glorified bodies. What they offer is the gospel, the key to eternal life in the "new heavens and new earth, the home of righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). By "the redeemed in glorified bodies" I'm referring to the glorious bodies that are promised to believers at the time of their bodily resurrection (1 Cor. 15:42-44); these bodies will be imperishable, powerful and spiritual (not carnal) in nature. Believers will be able to defy gravity with these new bodies, walk through doors and teleport from one place to another, all of which can be observed in Jesus Christ after his resurrection.
Needless to say, "Cocoon" has an incredible subtext. But it's not necessary to get so deep. This is just an entertaining movie with a good heart. More than that, it's inspiring. On the downside, the final act is overextended and should've been trimmed down.
The film runs 1 hour, 57 minutes, and was shot in the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area of Florida with the underwater scenes done in the Bahamas.
GRADE: A-
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$17,500,000.00
Revenue:
$85,300,000.00