Original Release Date: November 4, 1988
Written and Directed by John Carpenter based on the short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” by Ray Nelson
Cast: ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George ‘Buck’ Flower, Peter Jason, Raymond St. Jacques
Soundtrack: John Carpenter and Alan Howarth
It was a knock-down, drag-out battle.
I don’t mean the glorious five and a half minute long display of fisticuffs between Nada and Childs, I mean Frank (which South Park so expertly and lovingly parodied), I mean which Eighties single this review would be named for. “Hip To Be Square” put up a bloody good fight, but Steve Taylor’s opus just seemed to have a little more bite, if not more prescience.
Anyway, I don’t know if there’s something wrong with me lately, or if I’m just a curmudgeon, or if I simply see more clearly now than when I was younger, but lately I’ve been going into some classic movies expecting to love them, and now twice have walked away wanting. To be sure, They Live
John Carpenter may not be one of my favorite directors (I’ve still never seen Halloween, The Fog, Starman, or Big Trouble in Little China, although I did grow up watching Elvis, which began the beautiful John Carpenter/Kurt Russell relationship), but he certainly has my respect. The man has a knack for creating wholes greater than the sums of their parts. Just look at Escape from New York
Really, the two biggest keys to Carpenter’s brilliance are atmosphere and chemistry. By “atmosphere” I mean not only the mood of his movies, but how deep he gets you into their world before moving along with the plot; and by “chemistry” I obviously mean the rapport between actors, especially in ensemble pieces, whether with unknowns (Assault On Precinct 13
From a character perspective, They Live is much smaller than a typical Carpenter film (pretty much the Piper and David show, which I’m totally fine with, and a sprinkling of support), but it’s got atmosphere for days. From the very first shot of the film, opening on some graffiti, then panning over to a slowly passing Santa Fe train, gradually revealing Roddy Piper patiently waiting to cross the tracks under rain-soaked skies, we understand that this movie’s going to be a little downbeat, a little bluesy, if you will; and it really wallows in that for a good while. We get a few hints near the beginning that something is going on, but nothing really happens until the cops show up 22 minutes in; and then it’s another 10 minutes before Nada finally puts on the glasses and things really get going.
I could go on and on about plot specifics, but I’ll just say that the core strength lies in the middle third. After that it starts to come apart a bit, but we’re still not there yet.
Beyond guns, fistfights, and Roddy Piper one-liners (and bubble gum), what makes They Live so good are the underlying themes. While it may have been John Carpenter’s [literal] middle finger to the Reagan era, the commentary of the film could easily apply to the Great Depression, or the more recent economic crisis of 2008. It’s hard not to think of government bailouts when Keith David says, “We gave the steel companies a break when they needed it. You know what they gave themselves? Raises.” Absolutely timeless.
All that said though, They Live has some problems. As much time as a film spends grounding itself, there’s always a limit to how far you can stretch things, and in that regard, the movie starts to tear a bit. First of all, the entire character of Holly Thompson is extraneous, and this is not a knock on Meg Foster’s acting, she’s just not around long enough to establish anything significant, so that’s a screenwriting error. Secondly, and more importantly, the ending doesn’t work. I don’t mean the last 40 seconds, which are great, I mean the 10 or so minutes leading up to that. Part of this is because John Carpenter isn’t necessarily the best at directing action scenes (kind of like Tim Burton), but mostly it’s due to leaps in logic and things becoming, well, frankly, a little silly; a little too silly for a movie like this.
In the end though, I do recommend They Live. It’s entertaining and thought-provoking, and it’s got that great proto-Matrix sensibility (not to mention that amazing fist fight). Just maybe temper your expectations a bit if you’re never seen it before. Don’t let people hype it up too much for you.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
P.S. Special shout-out to Alamo Drafthouse [Yonkers] for actually providing us bubble gum during the screening.