The Goonies (1985, PG)

This is the other iconic Sean Astin role I wanted to check out.  In my review of Rudy, I said I’d only ever seen parts of it, but having seen it now, I think I must’ve been confusing it with some other scrappy-band-of-misfits movie, because there wasn’t much of anything that seemed familiar to me other than general pop culture awareness, a la the “Truffle Shuffle.”  I clearly missed my moment on this movie – while I can see the reasons it would’ve been like catnip to little boys in the ‘80s, I’m never going to have that kind of love for it – but I did enjoy it a lot (it helped that I caught a special screening at my local theater, full of long-time nostalgia fans and parents showing it to their kids for the first time; that helped me get into the right mood for it.)

On one fateful day in Astoria, Oregon, a band of intrepid boys hit upon a fantastical last-ditch effort to save their neighborhood, the “Goon Docks,” from getting turned into a country club:  they’ve found a centuries-old treasure map.  The tenacious foursome sets off in search of the treasure, but they face obstacles on every side, including the ringleader’s older brother (who was supposed to be keeping an eye on him,) an organized crime family they just so happen to get on the wrong side of, and the countless booby traps laid by the pirate who hid the treasure.

It’s definitely corny, with ridiculous plot contrivances and some dumb jokes, but it also feels a bit like it was created in a lab specifically to be everything young boys would love.  Adventure!  Pirates!  Fat jokes!  Crazy Rube Goldberg devices!  Swearing!  Guys getting hit in the nuts!  As such, it’s irreverent and immature but fun.  The four boys (and the three teens, including the brother, who gets roped into the proceedings) are broadly-drawn but entertaining, and I like watching them navigate a series of booby-trapped tunnels while eluding crime bosses.

The (very) young Sean Astin plays Mikey, the group’s unofficial leader.  He’s the everyman, the ordinary-but-likable kid with big dreams about pirate treasure.  He’s joined by Mouth (Corey Feldman,) the mischievous smartass, Data (Ke Huy Quan, who also played Short Round in Indiana Jones,) the quirky budding inventor, and Chunk (Jeff Cohen,) the high-strung butt of many of the film’s jokes.  They have a chaotically-amusing group chemistry and, in carrying out their mission, are about as organized as cats leading other cats, but somehow, they get the job done.  Bonus – Mikey’s older brother Brand is played by a young Josh Brolin!

So, no – hardly great cinema, but it does exactly what it sets out to do.  Namely, provide some crazy, don’t-think-about-it too-hard entertainment and launch a thousand little kids’ dreams about finding a hidden treasure map.  Can’t argue with that.

Warnings

Some violence, sexual references, a little gross-out humor, some insensitive jokes, and a surprising amount of swearing for a PG movie – the ‘80s were a different time!