*Batteries Not Included

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Movie - *Batteries Not Included

Year: 1987
Rated: PG
Parental Rating: Good for children
Country Of Origin: U.S.
Running Time: 106
Format: Color
Genre(s): Fantasy; Science Fiction
Production: Amblin
Released By: Universal

Steven Spielberg's Amblin Productions has come up with a typically heartwarming fantasy that retraces the ground covered by E.T., COCOON, and SHORT CIRCUIT by including cute (and marketable) aliens who work miracles for a small group of oppressed people. Set in the slums of Manhattan's Lower East Side, BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED stars Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as an elderly couple who, along with a few other residents, resist the gentrification plans of a greedy real estate developer. Things look grim until two flying saucers the size of hubcaps appear on the scene. Dripping with cutesy sentimentality, BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED still provides enough entertainment to hold the attention of the audience, especially if that audience is below the age of reason. The performances are passable: Tandy and Cronyn are talented enough to avoid looking foolish. The special effects team has created some truly convincing sequences that give the saucers more personality than the human characters.

Cast

Hume Cronyn: Frank Riley

Jessica Tandy: Faye Riley

Frank McRae: Harry Noble

Elizabeth Pena: Marisa

Michael Carmine: Carlos

Charlie Abrahams: Mason

Jane Hoffman: Muriel

John DiSanti: Gus

John Pankow: Kovacs

MacIntyre Dixon: DeWitt

Michael Greene: Lacey