The Goonies

Many children of the 80s grew up quoting this movie. The fact that people even know the 'truffle shuffle' is proof that this movie was, at least at one time, a major hit. The Goonies is a Steven Spielburg film so even though it was made in the early 80s, the effects are still pretty nice.

Anyway on to the plot and such.

This movie is about a group of loud obnoxious neighborhood kids, whose parents have been hit by the recession and are losing their homes. The icing on the cake is that their homes will be destroyed for a nicer newer country club by the biggest jerk in school's father.

The dreamer of the group Mikey (Sean Astin) has high hopes that they can save their homes by following a treasure map and finding the lost pirate treasure. His cohorts all have fun nicknames: Mouth (Corey Feldman), Data (Jonathan Ke Quan), and Chunk (truffle shuffle extrordinnaire Jeff Cohen). Since they are just kids, Mikey's older brother goes to retrieve them, and ends up joining them on thier adventures. His crush Andy and her friend Stef also join them.

The group follow the treasure map to a "Summer Place" where the Fertelli Gang have a money printing operation and thier hideout. Under the fireplace in a basement room is the entrance to some old caves. The kids, minus Chunk who was distracted by a freezer full of ice cream, go down to the caves and find rooms with pipes going into buildings followed by the bottom of an old wishing well. Chunk is sent to get help but is intercepted by the Fertelli's. After a humerous confession he is tied up with an "it." The it is called Sloth and is the somewhat deformed but really strong younger brother of the Fertelli clan. Chunk and Sloth bond over some chocolate before escaping.

After several close calls with the Fertelli's the kids take a crazy water slide into a large cave with the pirate ship. The ship has lots of treasure, but the Fertelli's are not complete morons and catch up to them making the kids walk the plank and hand over all the gold in thier pockets.

Never fear, 'justice' and Sloth prevail saving the kids, and no one even dies. This is a family film you know.

As a kid I loved the movie, once I got married I was surprised that it was two hours of screaming children. Of course, now that I have a screaming kid of my own the screaming is more tolerable. But, be prepared for lots of screaming.

Overall I rate it four stars, with a special bonus star for the preteen and young teen group. Just be aware, PG ratings in the 80s meant you will hear the occasional 4 letter word (we are talking the s word, and the h word, but not the f bomb).

Newer Posts Older Posts Home