Norman, played by Henry Fonda, is one of the most irritating and insufferable fools in movie history. While there's moments of him displaying some genuine humanity, mainly he's a complaining bitter death obsessed old man. Ethel, played by Katherine Hepburn, plays the devoted wife in a kind of overly sentimental, sappy way. Her impatience with Norman's crappy attitude comes across as sincere, but mainly she just takes up space. Jane Fonda is nothing special, and thankfully she's not in the film very much. She plays the role okay, but in general she's a very bland person with minimal talent. If not her her last name she'd probably be a waitress. So now we arrive at the only 2 guys in the film that are worthwhile. The old and young Billy Ray. Dabney Coleman is excellent. Enoug said. Bill McKeon is likewise great in his role. The only moments that weren't cringe worthy lame or stupid were when Norman and Billy were on the lake together. The lake scenery is gorgeous and the cabin is also charming. The few old wooden boats used were also beautiful. One star for the scenery, one for the boats, and one for Dabney and Doug. The mailman Charlie was also genuinely portrayed as a kind and believable local. So I'll give a star for him as well, but will round down to 3 because of the inflated rating here. The scenario where the boat gets wrecked sums up the absurdity of the screenwriting. So many things happened that were silly beyond belief. Going out fishing late with a dark skies and a storm clearly coming. Nope. Going into a dangerous area to fish with the big boat when there's a perfectly good skiff to use for situations like that. Fishing right by a beaver house-probably about 2-3 feet of water. Nope. Letting the kid drive out and yelling full throttle reverse when the rock was obviously so far away it could have easily been avoided without any fuss. Then the rescue, where Charlie drives Ethel into the cove. She dives off the bow into water that's supposed to be filled with rocks? Right. Total disconnect. Then one further thing. The boat was clearly destroyed, yet somehow Charlie is gonna fix it. Just crazy dumb.
Review of On Golden Pond
