The Goonies
The fact that “The Goonies” is 30 years old is enough to make one feel a sting of existential dread. At the same time, watching it again for the first time in years also takes me back to fond childhood memories, not just of watching this wonderful collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner, but also of fond times with my friends and family, growing up, having adventures, and dreaming of being a member of the Goonies. But 30 years later, my childhood may be only a memory, but “The Goonies” lives on as one of the most beloved adventures of my generation, and a touchstone in a lot of childhoods like mine, because Goonies never say die.
The film is based on a story by Spielberg, and written by Chris Columbus, two filmmakers who have been responsible for some of the most popular fantasy and adventure films of the past 40 years, including “E.T.,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the first two “Harry Potter” films, and “Home Alone,” and the youthful energy they bring to such films permeates through every moment of this story. The film lacks the subtlety that makes some of those classics, but the way it follows through with the story of Mikey (Sean Astin) and his friends as they look for the fabled treasure of pirate One-Eyed Willie, and ties it into a story of one last weekend with our best friends before we go our separate ways, that gives it a feeling of authenticity that cuts through the bombast beautifully. Of course, the third part of that equation is director Donner, who may have directed the “Lethal Weapon” movies and “The Omen,” but also directed “Superman the Movie,” which had a sense of fun and adventure that fits in well with the tone Spielberg and Columbus aim for in this story. The result is a perfect example of three different creative voices that, put together, make sweet music together.
“The Goonies” is set in the town of Astoria, which has fallen on tough financial times. A lot of people are about to get their houses foreclosed on, and friends are going to have to move to other towns, maybe never to see each other again. We see them meet up at the Walsh’s house, where Mikey and his brother Brand (Josh Brolin) are packing up. Both of them are accepting of what is happening, but Mikey still hopes for something to happen that will save their town. We also get introduced to the rest of the crew, including loudmouth smart aleck Mouth (Corey Feldman); and tall tale teller Chunk (Jeff Cohen); gadget whiz Data (Jonathan Ke Quan). They make their way into the attic to see what’s up there, and find an old map and a doubloon that are purported to lead one to the treasure of One-Eyed Willie. Legends have surrounded the treasure for years, but no one has ever found it. What if it’s true, though? Maybe even treasure exists to save the town. Mikey and co. escape Brand, on strict orders to keep his asthmatic brother indoors, and make their way to where the map leads them. Unfortunately, it also leads them into the vicinity of the Fratellis, a family of criminals where the mother (the late Anne Ramsey, who was an unforgettable presence in any movie) and her two sons (Jake, played by Robert Davi, and Francis, played by Joe Pantoliano), who seem dangerous, but bumble about almost as much as the Goonies do. Brand goes after them, and happens to cross paths with his girlfriend, Andy (Kerri Green), and her best friend, Stef (Martha Plimpton), who will be going on the adventure with Mikey and friends, which will see them risking life and limb to see if the legends are true. This isn’t even including Sloth (John Matuszak), the Fratelli’s deformed family member, who seems terrifying at first, but becomes an unlikely ally when he and Chunk become friends.
Donner, Spielberg and Columbus have some wonderful Rube Goldberg-like bobby traps in store for the gang as they travel underneath Astoria looking for Willie’s pirate ship, especially the piano made of bones where Andy has to hit the right notes, or else the bottom falls out from underneath them. And the score by Dave Grusin is a very ’80s conconction in sound and theme, accentuated by a song by Cindy Lauper that really puts the movie in a specific time period. But neither the music, nor the occasional pop culture reference, date the film, though, because what really makes “The Goonies” a classic is the story and the characters, played by a cast both extremely well-known (Astin, Brolin, Pantoliano and Plimpton’s best years were still ahead of them) or only reasonably famous (Ramsey, Feldman, Davi, Green, Cohen and Ke Quan, rightly, have fans), all of whom have something special to bring to their roles. This is an adventure that could have easily been at home during the Golden Age of Hollywood in the ’30s and ’40s, but is brought to life by some of the most gifted talent of recent cinema history, and it’s a film people from my generation will be sharing with generations to come for a long time. Goonies never say die, this is true, but even more true is that “The Goonies,” the film, will never die, either. It’ll always have a place in the hearts of fans who grew up with it, and had their own adventures when they were young.
