Always

Name: Always
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Released: December 22, 1989
Duration: 122 min
Rating: 50
Cast: Holly Hunter, Richard Dreyfuss

1989

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Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Ratings

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6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Ratings

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Always

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Movie Details & Credits

United Artists | Release Date: December 22, 1989 | PG

Starring: Holly Hunter, Richard Dreyfuss

Summary: A romantic adventure about a legendary pilot's passion for dare-devil firefighting and his one true love.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Genre(s): Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: PG

Runtime: 122 min

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Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr

It's the film in which an entertainer at last becomes an artist, dealing with manifestly personal, painful emotions and casting them in a form that gives them philosophical perspective and universal affect. It's Spielberg's finest achievement, a film that will look better and better with the passage of time. [22 Dec. 1989]

Mike Clark

Though there are scenes in Always (both intimate and spectacular) I love, the film does seem a bit asking-for-it-weightless following an Indiana Jones sequel. Yet if, as I suspect, many reviewers elect to carve up Always, the film will pick up its devotees - now or down the road. [22 Dec. 1989, p.1D]

Ted Mahar

Always has the benefit of likable characters and actors. Dreyfuss, Hunter and Goodman are good. But several scenes seem needlessly slow, and the film as a whole would be better if it had been pared down from 120 to 90 minutes. At times it seems the title and the running time are one and the same. [22 Dec. 1989, p.R13]

Martha Baker

The result is a movie with a lot of hysterically funny lines (including a nod to St. Louis) shooting through the banal, timeworn plot, relieved occasionally by a well-wrought sketch. Director Steven Spielberg tries to stir this mixture, but it's just too flour-y. [22 Dec. 1989, p3F]

Janet Maslin

Gentle and moving as it means to be, Always is overloaded. There is barely a scene here that wouldn't have worked better with less fanfare. Read full review

Hal Lipper

Always is meant to be a fantasy. But it is far too sappy to ignite the imagination. [22 Dec. 1989, p.6]

Peter Stack

Always is such a lamentable production _ hardly a moment rings true _ that you almost feel like saying ''pardon me'' when you wonder why it apparently didn't occur to Spielberg or anyone else involved that no chemistry was taking place. Not only are the stars rather uninteresting people, they don't seem to like each other in any way that you can feel. [22 Dec. 1989, p.E1]

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User Reviews

Habibiehakim

Jul 3, 2021

Always is not an original film, even for me this is a type of movie or a story that it just made for television, somebody die and then the movie showing the person who die is alive again with the same body, same face, same clothes and pants, there's an angel, and the person who die still canAlways is not an original film, even for me this is a type of movie or a story that it just made for television, somebody die and then the movie showing the person who die is alive again with the same body, same face, same clothes and pants, there's an angel, and the person who die still can see everything except everybody that still alive cannot see him/her, well, Spielberg's makes this a 10 out a 10 movie, how?, we never know, and that was Spielberg's secret.… Expand

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Spangle

Mar 2, 2017

Probably Spielberg's most sickly sentimental and manipulative film, Always is still oddly charming due to Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter. A touching romantic comedy drama about a man who is an aerial firefighter who dies and comes back to make amends and inspire a new guy to fight firesProbably Spielberg's most sickly sentimental and manipulative film, Always is still oddly charming due to Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter. A touching romantic comedy drama about a man who is an aerial firefighter who dies and comes back to make amends and inspire a new guy to fight fires and, incidentally, date the man's past girlfriend, Always is a charmer and a compelling look at death. While definitely sentimental and the most quintessential display of it in a Spielberg film, the film finds great tension when in the air and great charm while on the ground. That said, it is quite predictable and clearly manipulative, even if it is a compelling look at death.

Dying and being tasked with inspiring Ted Baker (Brad Johnson) to become an aerial firefighter, Pete (Richard Dreyfuss) is not ready to go. Even when Hap (Audrey Hepburn), the woman who cuts his hair and tells him he is dead (yes, really), tells him he must go back and say goodbye, he is hesitant. He is not ready to give up his life with Dorinda (Holly Hunter). It may be time to go, but he wants to keep Dorinda as his own and not share her with Ted, who is quickly moving in on Pete's territory. Able to speak and direct people to do something, nobody can see Pete and write it off as a voice in their head or their own mind telling them to do something. Thus, he goes undetected by everybody but Hap. Eventually, he learns he must say goodbye to let Dorinda move on from his death and not want her own demise as a result. The only way she will be happy and live the rest of her life with Ted is if Pete says goodbye. Tearjerking and melodramatic, the film's portrayal of death - though odd - is well done and well thought out for the most part and the film is quite effective at moving the audience with this portrayal. It is a film that would likely be of great comfort to somebody who just lost a loved one for its portrayal of the need to say goodbye.

Yet, the best sequences have to be in the air. High flying daredevils, these aerial firefighters are insane people. Al (John Goodman), Pete, Dorinda, and Ted, are all shown flying and they all risk their lives in the process. These scenes are excellently staged and captured by Spielberg with each sequence being filled with tension and capture the fear and adrenaline of situation to perfection. Compared to the situation on the ground, the situation in the air is incredibly reminiscent to Top Gun and captures that same free flying spirit. On the ground, it is far more solemn than Top Gun, but in the air, the two are very similar in how they capitalize on the natural tension of flying and fighting fire with fire.

That said, Always is hardly memorable. While playing with similar emotions as many other Spielberg films - tension and tears - it just lacks the gravitas to make it all come together. It may be Spielberg at the helm, but even his lesser films feel more like Spielberg than just in the themes. This one could have been done by anybody and feels like a director-for-hire film. While he gets great performances out of Dreyfuss and Hunter, this is absolutely Spielberg on autopilot and just doing a film to get the studio behind him, even though they clearly are and should be behind him for the future. Thus, I have no idea why he would make it. Mind you, it is hardly an awful film, but it just not particularly special or memorable. It comes, it entertains, and then it goes without even waving or having the courtesy to say goodbye. It just ends and you find yourself sitting and looking at the screen and saying, "Well, that was pleasant." Five minutes later, you sit down to write a review about on Letterboxd and think, "Boy that John Goodman was funny. Good acting. But what happened again exactly?" While not complicated, it is not a film that will stick in your mind and that is its biggest fault and usually something Spielberg brings to the table.

Tame, tolerable, and largely quite enjoyable, Always has some good fantasy elements, solid tension, and a nice romance, but Audrey Hepburn deserved a better film for her final role.… Expand

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DawdlingPoet

Nov 27, 2021

This is a cheesy and sentimental film but its also a somewhat entertaining watch. It features a good cast and is a bit like a much more toned down version of Top Gun, I guess. Its soppy and cheesy but its also a comforting and enjoyable watch, if your in the mood for that kind of a film, IThis is a cheesy and sentimental film but its also a somewhat entertaining watch. It features a good cast and is a bit like a much more toned down version of Top Gun, I guess. Its soppy and cheesy but its also a comforting and enjoyable watch, if your in the mood for that kind of a film, I suppose. I like films that deal with death, what happens after death, not so much in a supernatural way all the same. Its not exactly a greatly memorable film but for what it is, its a good film all the same and so I'd recommend it on that basis.… Expand

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askewglasses

Aug 30, 2013

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In short this is probably one of the worst of Spielberg's films. It's not necessarily bad but its very boring. It does have some very good parts though, such as when the planes are flying or when Dorinda (Holly Hunter), Pete's love, dances with the ghost of Pete unknowingly. But as a whole it drags and doesn't hold up to his other works.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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