"Innerspace" (1987)

I watched this one a long, long time ago ... maybe early '90s.
So, when I saw that the Space Channel was airing it, I thought, Hmm... I can stay up for a few more hours...

This film, like any other film with Martin Short in it that I've seen reaffirmed how great an actor he is. I mean, this man is an unsung genius of physical humor. He has the greatest facial expressions and pratfalls of the universe.

The only things I remembered from when I first saw this film were, (1) that Martin Short was in it and (2) that the minimized guy inside the pod gets transfered from Martin Short's body to some woman's body and he sees that she's pregnant and proceeds to scream about being a dad.

What I didn't remember/realize was that Dennis Quaid was some kinda hunk (he's actually rather ripped... it was disturbing*), that Meg Ryan was the leading lady and that the film was generally a comedy. I thought it was a more sci-fi-ish deal. Martin Short's hair was feathered... I thought this film was early '80s (because it looked to be late '70s) so I was shocked at the 87 truth.

I feel weird that I missed an entire dimension of the film (I never quite figured out who the "bad guys" were or what they were up to) but for some reason wasn't bothered by that. It happened because of telephone calls, snack and bathroom breaks and a loud fan in the room. Usually it irritates me to miss just one line (I think I picked this habit up from watching CSI where one line makes all the difference in the world -- it's like reading a Sherlock Holmes story and skipping a paragraph: lacking one little slice of input can TOTALLY alter how you view a situation, a person and/or ultimately how you solve your case). I'm very, very rarely (if EVER) this shallow with my film-watching habits. I'm surprized at myself.

One other thing that I approve of (SO MUCH!) and never in one million years would have realized the first time I saw this film was the little cameo kind of inside joke-y type thing that happened soon after the pod was first injected into Jack Putter. [The film is about the discovery of minimizing technology and the original experiment should have been shrinking a scientist/pilot to a size smaller than a white blood cell and injecting him into a laboratory rabbit. Something went horribly wrong (doesn't it always), x, y and z happen and the pod and the pilot are injected into a human being instead. CHAos ensues.] He went to see his doctor and in the waiting room he was flanked by Joe Flahrety and Andrea Martin. At first all I noticed was Joe Flahrety and laughed to myself because I haven't seen him in years but talk/think about him a lot because one of my brothers HATES him with a passion you'll never know. So I grab the telephone to call said brother and while I'm ringing, I notice Miss Martin, too. It's an "SCTV" joke! I think it's fantastic. My first thought, actually, was that they were three Canadians on a bench and then I realized where they came from and it was a great moment. Maybe the director's a canuck or something.


*I think it's good that I didn't notice what kind of character Quaid was meant to be. I mean, I must have been younger than 12 or 13 (maybe even 10!) and it wouldn't have been appropriate so much for me to think this thirty-three-year-old man was attractive. But I get it now. ... He's our modern-day Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. (I'm actually thinking of the guys from when I was growing up... I'm out of touch.) But, there was a scene near the beginning of the film, on this topic, that reminded me of another post I had been meaning to create earlier this week.

for me: 8/10
for the rest of the world: 6.5/10