Hook
Release Date: December 11, 1991
Runtime: 144 Mins
Nominated for Five Academy Awards including Best Original Song, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Make-Up, Best Visual Effects
Winner of Zero Academy Awards
Read on after the jump...
By Sean Knight
There is no way of saying this lightly – Hook is damn near a complete disaster. Steven Spielberg was coming off of a dramatic high with The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun, though he did have a slight stumble with the remake, Always. With Spielberg putting the nails in the coffin of childhood with Empire of the Sun, it was curious that he would want to tackle a project about never growing up. Hook is the kind of film that Spielberg would have made gloriously early in his career, but it is clear from many a misstep within the picture that his heart just wasn’t in it. The first problem, and by far the largest, is that the film breaks the story of Peter Pan’s cardinal rule – it let’s Peter grow up.
The opening of Hook see’s Peter as a middle aged lawyer with two kids and a wife that he hardly has time for. He travels to London to give a speech at a hospital gala opening in honor of the woman who saved him as an orphan – Granny Wendy. Yep, that Wendy. But things go horribly wrong as Captain Hook kidnaps Peter’s kids and forces him to relive his past as Peter Pan of Neverland. Spielberg attempts to tackle some pretty heavy themes here – the necessity of growing up, losing your identity, distant fathers (Spielberg’s favorite subject), and essentially what it means to be a child. But, by making Peter a middle aged man who has no memory of the great adventures that he’s had in the past, the narrative is already dead in the water along with the legend of Peter Pan. The hiring of Robin Williams to play the part of Peter was quite the casting coup, as whom better than the comedic man-child to play Peter. The problem is Peter spends so much of the film trying to find his former self that Williams never gets the chance to let his comedic sensibilities shine. Instead, Spielberg has Peter sour, depressed, and downright pathetic for much of the film’s running time. This makes it extremely hard for the audience to really give a rat’s ass about Peter, despite having such a likeable and well-cast actor in the lead role. This is the fatal flaw that the film never recovers from.
Hook’s other large disappointment is that while Spielberg normally gets such sincere and touching performances out of child actors, here he let’s them run rampant. There is not an honest moment from any of the child actors in the film, save for maybe Jack (Peter’s son), played by Charlie Korsmo. Jack’s story is one of the few elements in the film that works because it is probably the closest to Spielberg’s heart. Jack struggles with the fact that he has a father who doesn’t appreciate or spend any time with him. It is well known that Spielberg had a tough relationship with is father during adolescence. The baseball scene in the film is particularly touching and pulls on the heartstrings in a way that only Spielberg can do. The rest of the child actors do not fare half as well. Peter’s daughter Maggie, played by Amber Scott, is grating and her out of place and poorly sung song (When You’re Alone) doesn’t help her case. The Lost Boys a rag tag team with no heart, as Spielberg doesn’t take the time to individualize any of them save for the fat one, who becomes a human bowling ball, and the disturbingly androgynous Rufio, played by Dante Basco. Whoever decided to let him wear a belly shirt with a ton of eyeliner was obviously on drugs that day, or a closeted child molester.
The film is so over designed that it hurts the eyes. Everything in the picture looks gaudy, from Captain Hook’s ship to the tie dyed colored lost boys camp. The costumes look like poorly constructed operetta pieces, and Peter’s eventual Pan costume looks completely ridiculous on the adult Williams, tights and all. The only technical element of the picture that saves any face is John Williams soaring adventure score. It is everything that a Peter Pan movie deserves, just not this one.
The only adult actor that makes it out of this mess with a shred of dignity is Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook. Hoffman knows exactly what kind of film he is in and he plays up the camp aspects considerably. He is deliriously dry one moment and grotesquely over the top the next. But it all works because of the absolute ridiculousness surrounding him at every moment of the picture. It’s the kind of comedic performance that is both measured and manic. If anything or anyone should have gotten any awards prospects out of these proceedings, it should have been Hoffman.
I loved Hook as a child for it’s bright colors and Spielbergian sensibilities. Unfortunately, now as an adult it all just looks a mess. If Spielberg wanted to make Peter Pan than he should have done exactly that. I think that Spielberg’s mind had crossed over into much darker regions, and there was no way that he could have pulled this story off at this point in his career. Ten years earlier Hook might have been a magical thing. In a couple years Spielberg would prove that he still had some of his young verve left in him, though it would come in a completely different package.
By J. Link
I remember when I was kid I was obsessed with Peter Pan. I didn’t want to grow up and longed for the day that I could fly off to Neverland…..I’m still waiting. Word to the wise-if you haven’t seen Hook yet just lie and say you have because every time you tell people that you haven’t they will give you this look of disdain. I’ve been getting that look ever since the movie came out. To be honest, it never really appealed to me. If I’m gonna watch a movie about Peter Pan I’m gonna watch the Disney version. DUH. I finally got around to watching it and pleasantly enjoyed my viewing experience. It was definitely the easiest Spielberg film I’ve watched. It was a fresh take on the story of Peter Pan and I thought it was quite cute. Is it his best film? Not at all. Is it cute? Yes. Is Dustin Hoffman pretty much the best ever? Absolutely.
The movie stars Robin Williams as Peter Pan, Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy, and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook. It is set in the modern day world where we meet a grown up Peter who is more wrapped up in his corporate job than he is in his children. Ok Steven! Look at you trying to switch up the story on us. When he takes his children back to England to visit Wendy they are kidnapped by Hook and Peter is forced to return to Neverland to save them, thus going back to his roots and realizing what is truly important in life! Pretty simple right? Given the material I thought Robin Williams did the best he could. Out of all of Spielberg’s films I thought this one had the weakest script. I feel that the actors had to dumb down their performances because the script didn’t give them much to work with. That was the main problem I had with the film.
The best part of the movie is definitely Dustin Hoffman. His portrayal of Captain Hook was absolutely hysterical. The best scene in the movie is when he is threatening to commit suicide but also trying to convince Smee to stop him from committing suicide. You could tell that Dustin Hoffman was having a lot of fun with this character. He was over the top but never went overboard which I thought was great. I was worried he would get too carried away with the character but he managed to find the right balance. I also feel obligated to praise his performance because EVERYONE thinks he is the best part of the film. I’m too scared to say anything negative about his performance for fear that I’ll be beheaded.
Also, the award for Best Cameo in a Movie definitely goes to Glenn Close. I had to rewind her scene a couple times before I was convinced that it was her. I don’t want to give too much away for the remaining five people who have yet to see the movie but her cameo occurs once Peter returns to Neverland. Keep your eyes peeled!
I enjoyed the lightness of this movie. It was a nice detour from the more intense films that he has made. Not his strongest but still an entertaining viewing experience!
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