Blast From the Past (1999)
The Cast
Brendan Fraser .... Adam Webber
Alicia Silverstone .... Eve Rustikoff
Christopher Walken .... Calvin Webber
Sissy Spacek .... Helen Thomas Webber
Dave Foley .... Troy
Joey Slotnick .... Soda Jerk/Archbishop Melker
Directed by some guy named Hugh Wilson, Blast From the Past is about a family stuck in a fallout shelter for 35 years, & their subsequent emergence into modern day society. Except, funnier than I just explained it. I mean, Wilson was the guy who directed Police Academy, so he's got to know funny.
Fraser is at his naive, innocent best as Adam, the boy raised in the fallout shelter by his slightly deranged father (Walken) & his growing-more-alcoholic-by-the-day mother (Spacek). In real life, this story would be one helluva sociological experiment. Imagine living with your parents for 35 years, never seeing another soul, & then being cast out into a world you've only heard or read about. It's less of a comedy if you think about it that way.
Everyone in the movie is pretty fantastic, from Dave Foley fagging up the screen to Joey Slotnick's haggard religious zealot. This movie needs more Walken though, as all movies do. My only complaint is Alicia Silverstone as the romantic lead. How can anyone buy her as a sweet girl in the end, when she spends 80% of her time on the screen being all holier-than-thou? Plus, she has the acting skills of a Nerf ball.
Despite the inclusion of Silverstone, this is a pretty funny rom-com, good for a couple of laughs. It's also funny to watch by yourself, thanks to the excellence of one Christopher Walken. That guy could sell me on anything. Short review for an alright, enjoyable movie. 3.5 outta 5, because Alicia Silverstone IS that bad.
Roger Ebert's review