Synopsis
Aerial firefighter Pete risks himself and his vintage World War II airplane in a constant and death-defying quest to fight forest wildfires, much to the dismay of his girlfriend, Dorinda . His love for Dorinda and the advice of fellow pilot Al convince Pete to give up his perilous career, but he flies one last mission. Pete heroically saves Al's plane from certain destruction, but with supernatural consequences.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Richard DreyfussPete Sandich
- Holly HunterDorinda Durston
- John GoodmanAl Yackey
- Brad JohnsonTed Baker
- Audrey HepburnHap
- Marg HelgenbergerRachel
- Roberts BlossomDave
- Keith DavidPowerhouse
- Ed Van NuysNails
- Dale DyeDon
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Tribune
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] - 88
Boston Globe
You expect virtuosic technique from Spielberg, and it's there, in spades. What you don't expect is heartfelt romanticism. But that's there, too... Always is a terrific-looking throwback to those large-scale '40s cinematic stews of romantic longing. [22 Dec. 1989, p.43] - 75
USA Today
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] - 70
Variety
Always is a relatively small scale, engagingly casual, somewhat silly, but always entertaining fantasy. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
This is Spielberg's weakest film since "1941." - 50
Miami Herald
The whole thing means to come down to big, round tears and mass sniffles, but though Spielberg invokes as many golden-era cliches as he can recall, he never gets the romance really working. It's tough being compared to Spielberg, and perhaps unfair if you happen to be Spielberg, but this is easily his least substantial film to date. Some tears, yes. No sparks. [22 Dec. 1989, p.G5] - 40
The New York Times
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. - 40
Newsweek
Spielberg doesn't differentiate between the good ideas in the script and the bad ones: everything is given an emphatic, production-number treatment... His ultraslick, seductive technique can be a pleasure to watch in itself, but it can't disguise the fact that "Always" is a decidedly uneternal fantasy. [1 Jan. 1990, p.60]
