Starman - 1984

 Closing in on reviewing all of John Carpenter's films here maybe, if that is indeed the goal. 

Between Christine and Big Trouble in Little China there was this drama road trip movie that seems to have been relatively forgotten.  I'm also watching Memoirs of an Invisible Man, which I actually do not think I have seen before!

Starman stars Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen in a alien-comes-to-Earth film.  Karen Allen is a broken person after losing the love of her life, Scott, Jeff Bridges.  An alien lands beside her house in the night and comes in, finds a picture of Scott, and replicates his appearance.  Karen Allen walks in to see the alien growing from a baby into a picture perfect replica of Scott, and from here it turns into a weird road trip movie to get the alien back to Arizona.

The tension and the feeling of this movie range all over the place.  It starts as a hostage situation where Jeff Bridges pseudo kidnaps Allen because he does have a gun and he asks her to drive him.  As they bond, he reveals he would never hurt her and it's around the time they started to get along anyways, so now she's doing it out of love and to see this thing through.  Meanwhile, they have various adventures and Bridges learns about humanity.

Like I said it's got some bizarre tension to it, and throw in the fact they're being chased by Charles Martin Smith as a SETI guy, this movie does keep you interested.  

I thought it was fine, basically.  The story is pretty straight and it's a tad too long, but overall, it's fine.  It's not one you'll need to rewatch or study or anything.  It basically is what it is, in all it's weird self.  2.5 stars.