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Starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern. Never before has a movie been as greatly benefited by the presence of such non-essential and, for the most part, seemingly unimportant elements of the production as The 'Burbs. Regardless of the acting, direction, and script--a dark little gem about people who believe their neighbors might be flesh eating demons from hell--this film was a lot of fun to watch. The film quality is stellar, as the scenery is ripe with deep blues and greens, almost suggesting that a large portion of the outdoor scenes were shot with a Polaroid filter. The sets are extraordinary; from what I understand, director Joe Dante had a full sized cul-de-sac complete with house exteriors built on the Universal Studio lot specifically for this film. The camera angles, again courtesy of Dante, and inventive and bring a new perspective to the on-screen action, and the score by Jerry Goldsmith a quirky, comic, over-the-top delight. No one in their right mind would suggest that the sets, camera angles, and score of a film could bring much entertainment value to a movie, let alone add an extra dimension, but this is just the case with The 'Burbs. Tom Hanks stars as Ray Peterson, suburbanite. Hanks' fairly normal life of mowing his lawn, and chatting with his neighbors, Rick Ducommun and Bruce Dern, is disrupted when the Klopeks move in next-door. After living in the neighborhood for nearly a month, neither Hanks nor anyone else, with the exception of the teenage Corey Feldman, has seen the Klopeks. Feldman maintains that he saw them in the middle of the night, digging graves, and thus has come to suspect that they are a) cannibals or b) Satan worshippers. As more strange noises and lights emanate from the Klopek's house, and the block's old miser, Gale Gordon, disappears without a trace, Feldman's "half-cocked" theory becomes the consensus opinion of those living on the block. And, dammit, they're going to prove it. Screenwriter Dana Olson should be commended for his ability to introduce a large number of major characters, 11 including the Klopeks, to the viewer quickly and seamlessly. In a very short amount of time, we learn who the characters are, what their defining mannerisms are, and what their relationships are with one another, a lesson several recent screenwriters should take to heart. The residents of the cul-de-sac are all distinctly different, which was a refreshing change of pace after viewing films with a large, muddled character contingent like Keys to Tulsa and Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead. The flair and style of The 'Burbs draws you into its own comic world, and amazes and entertains you as you watch Hanks, Ducommun, and Dern try to come to grips with who and what the Klopeks are. This isn't a movie that is going to astound you with a Shakespearean like wit, or a Pope like irony, but is, in its own right, a celluloid treat. The 'Burbs has effectively put a comic urban myth on screen with eye-candy backdrops. This was genuinely fun to watch.
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