Film Review: Batteries Not Included (1987)

In 1980s Steven Spielberg established himself as Hollywood’s most successful and influential entertainer. His dominance on American big screens began to reflect on small screens too, with highly acclaimed fantasy anthology series Amazing Stories. What had been originally written as script for one of its episode was later developed into Batteries Not Included, 1987 feature film directed by Matthew Robbins.

The plot takes place in Manhattan neighbourhood which had been almost completely demolished as part of the construction project by real estate developer Lacey (played by Michael Greene). The only thing that stands in the way is a single tenement building whose occupants, for one reason or another, refuse to leave. In order to solve that problem, Lacey has hired local thugs led by Carlos (played by Michael Carmine) who use intimidation and bribery. In the end only five tenants remain – elderly diner owner Frank Riley (played by Hume Cronyn) and his wife Faye (played by Jessica Tandy) who apparently suffers from dementia; retired boxer Harry Noble (played by Frank McRae) who likes to tinker with various objects; struggling artist Mason Baylor (played by Dennis Boutsikaris); single pregnant woman Marisa Esteval (played by Elizabeth Peña). They all pray for miracle and miracle one night comes in the form of two small robot-like aliens who like to feast on electricity and, in exchange, like to repair various objects. The aliens quickly begin to transform tenants’ lives and give them enough reasons to stay in their, now transformed, building, much to Carlos’ frustration.

Script, which was co-written by future famous film animator Brad Bird, combines general atmosphere of Frank Capra’s populist comedies from Classic Hollywood era with plot elements borrowed from 1980s Spielbergian films like E.T., Cocoon and Short Circuit. Despite occasional use of darker elements (like violence, family tragedy or two of major characters being affected by mental disability), general tone is uplifting, just like a Spielbergian film is supposed to be, and at times film becomes quite syrupy. This is best seen in design of aliens, which at times looks too “cute” and even have self-replicating mechanism that mimic human reproduction with big aliens having small child-like aliens. Those infantile elements in script are compensated with impeccable production, which includes bombastic score by James Horner and special effects by Industrial Light and Magic that look as effective today as they looked decades ago.

The biggest asset of the film is the cast. Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, who were married couple in real life, provide formidable performances; Cronyn is great as husband who sacrificed everything for the sake of marriage, while Tandy is great in providing charm which is hard to expect from character in such serious condition. Elizabeth Peña is also good in the role of single pregnant woman, although her obligatory romance with good-looking neighbour doesn’t look that convincing because she lacks chemistry with Dennis Boutsikaris. Michael Carmine, on the other hand, slightly overacts in the role of young villain. Despite being modest success at box office, Batteries Not Included didn’t cause much enthusiasm among critics and was later mostly forgotten. Those who see it today might get surprised to see so much Spielbergian quality in unjustly obscure piece of 1980s family entertainment.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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