I watched one of my favourite comfort movies last night after not having seen it for ages!
Innerspace (1987)
If you’ve somehow never seen it, it’s a really fun sci-fi/comedy/adventure directed by Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Burbs) starring Dennis Quade (The Day After Tomorrow), Martin Short (Three Amigos) and Meg Ryan (Sleepless in Seattle) among others.
This is what it’s about:
When a secret miniaturisation experiment goes awry, hotshot Navy pilot Tuck Pendleton (Quaid) gets injected into a hapless store clerk called Jack Putter (Short) instead of a rabbit.
With thieves trying to get their hands on the shrinking device and time running out for Tuck, he and Jack must work together to outwit the would-be thieves and return Tuck back to his original size.
The story is inspired by the 1966 film, Fantastic Voyage starring Raquel Welch.
I love this film!
It’s hilarious, loads of fun and just one of those really easy-to-watch movies from a decade that produced so many other great comedies.
As good as the whole cast are, it’s Martin Short who steals the show as the nervous hypochondriac, Jack Putter. He’s absolutely brilliant and this is probably my favourite of the films I’ve seen him in (although he’s also really good in Father of the Bride).
His relationship with Dennis Quade’s character (who speaks to him from inside Jack’s body) is brilliant and you really buy into the idea that Tuck is floating around inside his body.
Watching it last night I found their relationship kind of reminded me of the one John McClane and Al Powell have in Die Hard, where two people who’ve never met help each other through a desperate situation from over a radio. I’d never really thought about it before...
As it happens Dennis Quade and Meg Ryan met on the set of this film and went on to appear in another film together called D.O.A. (1988) a year later. It was apparently during the filming of that movie that they fell in love. They got married in 1991 and had a son called Jack who, if you watch The Boys (TV series) you’ll have seen playing the character Hughie. He also played Marvel in The Hunger Games movies.
Unfortunately the marriage didn’t last and Dennis Quade and Meg Ryan divorced in 2001.
If you haven’t seen this film and fancy a bit of an 80s nostalgia trip that’s loaded with adventure and a ton of laughs, you should definitely check it out.
Seen it? Let me know what you think.