Cocoon (1985)

Cocoon
Call No: PN1997 .C662 2004

Cocoon is like no movie I’ve ever seen before. For the longest time I had it in my mind that it was a sci-fi horror film, along the same lines as Alien or its sequel, which came out the following year. Watching the trailer answered my question about its thrill level, but raised more questions than it answered. What was the real premise? Where could the story go from there?

The premise of the film, without giving too much away, is this: A group of people have arrived to St. Petersburg, FL and have rented a boat and a house to help recover some items from underwater. These items, which look like giant rocks, are being stored in the pool of the house they’ve rented. More of them are being brought up and added every day. 

Unbeknownst to them, a trio of senior citizens have been sneaking over from the community living area next door to use the pool every day. When they arrive to the pool to find it full of these supposed rocks, they swim around them, determined not to break their routine. Suddenly these three old men feel young again, cured of whatever ailed them, and ready to enjoy life. The problem? It’s not permanent, and sooner or later, they’ll want to get back in the water.

The problem I had with this movie is that I was left looking for a real conflict. Every time a situation came up that had the potential to redirect the story, it didn’t. When the story finally did shift, it was anti-climactic. Still Ron Howard left me curious enough to keep the film going. More than once I thought “Okay. I’m not buying this, but I still want to see how he’s going to pull this off”. The end of the film has a suspenseful set-up, and I found myself conflicted between wanting the characters to succeed and not succeed. You can tell from the film that Ron Howard is still trying to find himself as a director. The film isn’t perfect, but he’s on the right track in a lot of ways.

The key residents of the Sunny Shores Retirement Community

What makes the film watchable is the actors and the underlying human story that comes from the retirement community side of the fence. The youthfulness of the trio of seniors brings so many benefits and fantastic experiences for the group, but arouses more than enough suspicion in the community. One of the best lines comes from a friend who refuses to take a dip into the water. “Nature dealt us our hand of cards and we played them,” he says, “Now at the end of the game, suddenly, you’re looking to reshuffle the deck.” Who’s right? Who’s wrong? There’s enough arguments from both sides. The actors touch on important elements of the human condition with the right amount of humour thrown in. The always affable Steve Guttenberg does more than his share as the entertaining boat owner.

The strength of the film comes, not from the plot, but from its characters and their trials with newfound youth. I grew up with my grandparents and especially related to the scenes between one of the men and his grandson. After having watched Cocoon, I called my grandmother. “If you were given the chance to feel young again, would you?” I asked. She thought about it for a moment.

“Sure,” she answered with a laugh, “Who wouldn’t?”.