Themes: Time Sleepers, Fish Out of Water, Lovers Reunited
Main Cast: Mel Gibson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Elijah Wood, Isabel Glasser, George Wendt
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
A man undergoes a scientific experiment that causes him to wake up after 50 years without aging a day in this romantic science-fiction tale. In 1939, Daniel (Mel Gibson) is a test pilot who is brave in the air but lacks the nerve to ask his girlfriend Helen (Isabel Glasser) to marry him, even though he loves her deeply. When Helen is hit by a truck and is taken to the hospital in a coma, Daniel is despondent, and he approaches his best friend Harry (George Wendt). Harry is a scientific researcher working with the military who has been experimenting with cryogenic suspension; Daniel asks Harry to have him frozen for a year rather than go through the hell of waiting to see if Helen lives or dies. Harry reluctantly agrees, but after the pilot is put on ice, Harry's experiments are shut down, and Daniel is forgotten. In 1992, two young boys, Nat (Elijah Wood) and Felix (Robert Hy Gorman) are playing in an abandoned military warehouse and find a freezing unit. They open it and find Daniel, who before long is all thawed out and physically not much worse for wear. However, the world is a very different place than it was in 1939; the boys bring their discovery home, where their single mother Claire (Jamie Lee Curtis) looks after Daniel and helps him adjust to his new world. A friendship between them begins to grow into something deeper, until Daniel discovers that his beloved Helen is still alive. Forever Young also features Joe Morton, Rob Morrow, and Vanessa Williams. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A romantic fantasy along the lines of Spielberg's Always with a dash of boy's adventure and science fiction film thrown in for good measure, it has little new to offer, but is saved to some extent by the charm of its leads. The story, about a WWII-era test pilot (Mel Gibson) who is awakened in the present by two young boys, after allowing himself to be frozen in an early cryogenic experiment, invokes the familiar theme of the man who needs to be reincarnated to learn how to love. The film's second act centers on the pilot's attempt to understand what's happened to him with the help of a young boy (Elijah Wood) and his widowed mother (Jamie Lee Curtis). Despite the need to hit plot points, these scenes are well-written and played by Gibson and Curtis with such warmth and naturalness that they could form the core of a better film. Even the utterly predictable ending is rendered watchable by Gibson's affecting performance. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Joe Morton - Cameron; Nicholas Surovy - John; David Marshall Grant - Wilcox; Robert Hy Gorman - Felix; Millie Slavin - Susan Finley; Miriam Beesley - Woman at Picnic; John Bourg - Daniel-Age 11; Michael Briggs - Pilot at Airshow; Cody Burger - Boy at Picnic; Jared Chandler - Officer at Warehouse; J.D. Cullum - Frank; Amanda Foreman - Debbie; Paul Ganus - Airbase Worker; Walton Goggins - Gate MP; Michael A. Goorjian - Steven; Dean Hallo - Man at Picnic; Steve Hinton - Boy with Ice Cream; Jason Iorg - Airbase Personnel; Art La Fleur - Alice's Father; Veronica Lauren - Alice; Ava Lazar - Waitress at Diner; William Marquez - Doctor at Hospital; Greg Allan Martin - Man at Picnic; Ara Maxwell - Helen-Age 11; Jon Menick - Doctor at Airfield; Joel McKinnon Miller - Man at Picnic; Mary Ellen Moore - Ticket Woman; Robert Munns - Wrong Harry; Kenny Ransom - Officer at Warehouse; Richard Ryder - Pilot at Airshow; Lisa Savage - Woman at Picnic; Carla Tamburrelli - Blanche; Eric Pierpoint - Fred
Credit
Bruce A. Miller - Art Director, Jerry Goldsmith - Conductor, Aggie Guerard Rodgers - Costume Designer, Steve Miner - Director, Jon Poll - Editor, Jerry Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Gregg Fonseca - Production Designer, Russell Boyd - Cinematographer, Ed Feldman - Producer, Jeffrey Abrams - Producer, Bert Davey - Producer, Bruce Davey - Producer, Jan Pascale - Set Designer, Jay R. Hart - Set Designer, Jeffrey Abrams - Screenwriter, Bruce Davey - Screenwriter
