Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is one of those rare movies where the aliens aren't trying to destroy the Earth. They are, however, flying around abducting people. Richard Dreyfuss plays a man who sees the UFOs but doesn't get taken. He is consumed by visions of a mountain he's never seen before and ends up leaving his family in an attempt to find it. The first two acts of Close Encounters of the Third Kind are very different from the last. They deal with fear and paranoia. As we first see the UFOs, they are terrifying, and people react with confusion. As the story progresses and Dreyfuss's character moves west in search of the mysterious mountain in his thoughts, the story focuses on paranoia. The government is obviously involved in some kind of cover-up, but what are they hiding? Finally, the third act changes gears and we see the aliens at a closer range. The film ends not on a note of fear or paranoia, but one of hope. Some people like the first part of the film and dislike the ending, while others hate the first portions and only enjoy the final act. I guess I fall somewhere in between, because I loved it all. I was expecting a dated, silly alien movie. Sure, Close Encounters of the Third Kind shows it's age in a few aspects (the hair and clothing, for starters) but the story itself isn't dated at all. I guess a story like this will be relevant until we actually have a documented alien encounter. The characters were real and the dialogue, unlike so many other movies about aliens, was smart. Dreyfuss turned in an excellent performance as the lead character. He really pulled the audience into his mind as he struggled to move on after seeing the UFOs.

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