One Paragraph Movie Review: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

One hundred and twenty-third film: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. I noticed a lot of differences between watching this movie as a child and an adult. As a child I didn’t fully appreciate the astounding acting chops on Henry Thomas, the kid who plays Elliott. As an adult I only got a bit shiny around the eyes, instead of wracking with ugly cough-sobs. And as a child I don’t think I spent any time at all wondering where E.T. goes to take a shit. While definitely a kid’s movie, and occasionally dipping into the kind of “E.T. I love you” schmaltz that is only forgivable in a kid’s movie, I still enjoyed it all the way through and was even surprised at the stark gravity of the less-whimsical moments. And I would never raise the fact that if an alien can lift five kids and their bicycles into the air twenty minutes after being pronounced dead, there was probably no reason he should have missed his lift back in the first place. Because then there would be no movie, and the entire John Williams string section would just be wandering the streets. Good. Three and a smidge potted zombie flowers out of five.