On Golden Pond

On Golden Pond (1981)
Director: Mark Rydell
Cast: Henry Fonda, Katherine Heburn, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, Dabney Coleman
Memorable Line: "Wanna dance or would you rather just suck face?"

When two of cinema's greatest actors take the screen in the late stages of their careers, it can go one of two ways -- either a patronizing piece of contrived garbage or a gem. Fortunately, this film is the latter.

Based on Ernest Thompson's play, "On Golden Pond" gives the portrayal of an elderly couple in their twilight years during their summer at their lake side cottage. Norman (Fonda) is a retired professor and Ethel (Heburn) is his wife. Their summer is disrupted when their daughter dumps their soon to stepson. Cross generational confusion causes some problems, but both generations find out they can learn something from each other. This doesn't come across as too much like an "after school" special due in main part to the quality dialog.

Both Fonda and Heburn bring a light grace and gravitas to their performances as they are completely convincing as a couple who have been together so long they know each other patterns and have come to cherish them. Jane Fonda is a bit histrionic at times, but I think that can be contributed to the script as much as to her performance.

There aren't too many films that feature the exploits of the elderly and this film handles this relationship without being patronizing, giving us a glimpse into their lives and providing the viewers perspective and showing us the passions of these two endearing characters.