Amblin Entertainment, Warner Bros
I had not stopped crying since last night. The nine months spent with my family in Florida, riding out the worst of Covid, were precious, seemingly stolen from the real world. Each day I’d literally jump out of bed to soak up every moment with my mom and her partner of 30 years, Richard. But the days had quickly dwindled down and the reality of returning to LA could no longer be delayed. My goodbyes began last night to Richard, who would not be awake before my 5am departure. I gave him a hug but couldn’t thread together the words to convey how much the time had meant to me, I couldn’t even utter the word ‘goodnight’ through my choked-off sobs.
At dawn this morning, mom woke with me and walked me up the driveway to my father’s truck who was ready to take me to the airport and fly with me to Colorado for a mini road trip back West. It should be an exciting day, a day embarking on a new adventure, with my dad no less. Instead, tears streaked down my cheeks and onto my mother’s shoulder as I gave her another sob-infused goodbye. Quite opposite of how these goodbyes normally play out, she was comforting me. She called to me, ‘Be happy!’ as she waved me away. Everyone sent me off with the same sentiment, ‘Be happy!’, as if that’s not an arduous ask. Driving away from mom, Richard, the lake, the cats, and weekend road trips with my dad, I wondered if I was leaving happy behind.
In the early morning light, my dad and I made the hour and half drive the airport, I with tear stained cheeks, he offering comfort by holding my hand. At the airport, it was quiet as I coached myself to get out of my head, to enjoy the present, this very real moment with my dad. I tried to pull it together but was failing miserably.
When the plane finally took off, I scanned through the movie offerings. They were showcasing ‘80s films, featured at the top was The Goonies (1985), exec produced and story by Stephen Spielberg, co-produced and directed by Richard Donner, with a screenplay by Chris Columbus. Desperate to shake off the mood, I gave in. In seconds I was reminded that this movie has the best damn opening sequence of any movie ever – the excitement, the ‘Fratelli’ chase, the introduction of the main characters, all set to a driving and triumphant score by Dave Grusin, it’s pitch-perfect. Quickly transported into their world, within five I was laughing out loud, much to the confusion of my father. That’s the power of entertainment, and the movie making magic of the eighties in which Steven Spielberg reigned. Returning to the Walsh household, with brothers Brand (Josh Brolin) and Mikey (Sean Astin) and their friends, Chunk, Mouth, and Data, was like reuniting with my own friends, largely because we had these lines memorized and rattled them off as if they were our own. In those years spent watching and rewatching, we’d become the new owners of the lines. Viewing on the plane was like returning to a shared memory, I couldn’t help but laugh along.
So my PSA for the day, if you are having a rough go of it, if the news is too much, or you’ve reached your quota of the words ‘pandemic’ or ‘unprecedented’ for the day, I suggest taking this classic for a spin. If you need to laugh or maybe have forgotten what your laugh sounds like these days, go for it, the long lost treasure of One-Eyed Willie awaits!