Innerspace – Movie Review

Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Robert Picardo

Another retro review by Adam Truscott.

The One Where I Heart Innerspace, And You Should Too

Enemy Mine meant Dennis Quaid had me as a fan for life. He could have gone on to make a film about him reading the phone book, and I would have been there.

Instead, he went and made another cult classic.

A simple idea. Brilliantly executed. When Joe Dante is on form, that’s exactly what you get. Scanning over his IMDB page, I realized how many movies of his I love. The original Piranha, (loved the new one, by the way!). Howling – just demented. Deranged. Gremlins – pretty much a perfect film. The ‘Burbs – I really need to see this again. Small Soldiers – really underrated.

With Innerspace, it’s a perfect set up. Quaid is shrunk to the size of a spec of dust. He’s meant to get put into an animal, but during some early carnage, he instead gets injected an unsuspecting Jack Putter.

That’s your lot. Quaid is inside Martin Short. He thinks he’s possessed. Quaid wants to get out. A simple idea.

It’s played out as a comedy, and there are plenty of laughs. I’m not a huge Martin Short fan, but here, he’s brilliant. (“Jack Putter to the rescue!”)

As a kid watching this, (VHS FTW!), I was astounded by the effects. I didn’t actually know that it won the Best Effects Oscar in 1988. It totally deserves it. The riff on Fantastic Voyage is obvious – and bought to vivid life. I found the idea fascinating, and still do.

The other thing that I couldn’t get my head round, was that Dennis Quaid was actually with Meg Ryan in real life. I don’t know why, but that confused me as a kid. Kurt Russell (In my Top Three Heros of all time) confused me also, by being with Goldie Hawn. It’s not so much that they would chose to act as a couple, that got me. It just seem to blur the line between what’s real, and what was acting.

As a couple, they really work here. It’s said they real life couples lack chemistry on screen. Not so. I totally buy into their relationship, and that drives the film on. You want them to be reunited. You want them to live happily ever after.

The most important relationship of the lot is Quaid and Shorts. Watching them go from confusion to eventually working as a team is great. There’s not enough “teams” like that nowadays. You need to buy into both of the characters, want them to succeed.

Short does the physical comedy really well. His personality changes during the film, as Quaid gives him confidence. He becomes stronger, and more adept at escaping the bad guys as Quaid tells him how to fight.

It’s a unique film. Definitely a by product of the 80s (My era!). Spielbergs name is on the cover, and the film has his imagination stamped all over it. It’s a journey. A fun, family film.

It’s the sort of film I look forward to watching with my Son, Ethan. If nothing else, to give my family a break from Shrek. The effects have aged well, and the film still sits fondly with me.

Films like this shaped my childhood, and got me into film. It is the sort of film that does that.

I have a terrible affliction where if everyone loves something, I switch off. It’s a turn off for me. The beauty of Innerspace is that it doesn’t have that. It’s a cult film. It’s not on TV every week. You look forward to when it is on. More than that, it’s one of the few films you look forward to watching again, even when you’re watching it. The sort of film you wished you had made yourself.

See it for Twistin’ The Night Away, and “let the good times roll”.

Now… let me tell you about Big Trouble In Little China…