Not even bad in a good way

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Norman and Ethel Thayer are an elderly couple making their annual trip to their summer cottage. Once there, they bicker-quite a lot. Norman acts obnoxious, insulting, and out of it while Ether keeps calling him an "old poop". For being major actors, the two leads perform like a bad vaudeville team, and we nearly turned it off.But the estranged daughter arrives as planned, along with her new boyfriend and his teenage son. After a short time, daughter and boyfriend have to go to Europe while they leave the son at the cottage. It is not too surprising how the rest of the movie goes.Henry Fonda reportedly won his only Oscar for this movie, which is a shame because he gave far better performances in far better movies. Perhaps because he was about to die and they wanted to give him one before it was too late. There was certainly no other reason that anybody who had to do with this movie should earn any awards.

Seeing that this was one of the last films for both Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, I was a little disappointed that this film marked the end of their acting careers. What is disappointing is not their ability in the film - they both won Oscars, rightfully so for Fonda, not so sure for Hepburn's fourth Oscar - but rather the fact that each of them had amazing movies such as 12 Angry Men for Fonda and The African Queen for Hepburn, yet they ended their careers on this simple and cheesy melodrama about aging.First, let's talk about what is done well - Henry Fonda's great performance as a senior citizen. We get all the humor we can get about an old man through Fonda's performance - he doesn't sound like himself at all, he'll make harsh jokes every now and then based on sexuality or race, he's extremely forgetful. But most of all, from a few key scenes we can clearly see that Thayer is afraid of death hitting him soon, even though this contradicts what he says throughout the movie. It is nearly heartbreaking (but also pretty cheesy) when his daughter confronts him towards the conclusion of the film about never acting as a true friend to her like he has been acting around Billy, who is Chelsea's soon-to-be stepson. It is a great moment to analyze whether their relationship has failed in the past based on gender or simply because Fonda's character was not a good father to Chelsea.Sadly, Fonda's performance along with that climactic moment about repairing his relationship with Chelsea are the only things of merit/interest for this film in my eyes. The main story is about Chelsea and her new fiancé Bill leaving Bill's son, Billy, with Chelsea's parents while they take a trip. What a weird decision to leave a thirteen year old kid alone with two elderly citizens whom he just met and is not even related to. Best parenting ever. While it is a delight to see Billy become friends with Norman, their "journey" is not that exciting at all except for when Norman and Billy become stranded on a rock in the middle of the pond after an accident.To put it simply, with actors of this particular caliber, their final movie could have been a lot stronger, but instead they starred in a decent melodrama at the end of their careers, not quite reaching the greatness of movies we come to expect from Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn.2.5/4.0

On Golden Pond deserves the title of "something you don't see every day". Movies which deal with old age don't usually become box office hits in a world obsessed with being young, yet On Golden Pond became the 2nd highest grossing film of 1981. Plus it stars two elderly actors who hadn't appeared in a major box office picture in over a decade.Despite their six decades in the industry, not only was it the first time Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn starred in a film together but they the first time they had even met each other. I never ceased to be amazed by the longevity of the careers of these two actors, especially Henry Fonda, whom I consider to have the most impress careers of any actor I've come across, scoring great films in every decade from the 30's right up to the 80's. On Golden Pond would be his last film and what a way to end a career. On Golden Pond reflects Fonda's real life relationship with his children. Reportedly the man was emotionally distant from his children, as are characters of Norman and his daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) in On Golden Pond. It makes you wonder how much of the interactions between the Fondas in the film are genuine with their intentionally forced and un-naturalistic manner of speaking to each other. Yet Norman will accidently utter Chelsea's name at several points showing that deep down he really cares about her. Also what's up with the bikini shots Jane Fonda? Was she trying to promote her exercise videos?Norman Thayer actually reminds me of my own grandfather in how he enjoys screwing with people's minds, such as the scene in which his future son in law tries to ask him if he would have a problem with having sex with his wife in their house. Norman Thayer seems like a stereotypical old man at first but we grow to empathize with his character. Just look at that battered old face of his which manages to say so much while his cranky, grump, smart aleck old man shtick helps the ease the likeability of his character. Norman is a man nearing the end of his life played by a man who literally was nearing the end of his life. Compared to Henry Fonda's appearance in the film Meteor which he stared in two years earlier, he aged quite a lot in that short period of time.Katharine Hepburn is one badass old lady in On Golden Pond. Just look at the scene in which jumps of a boat and into a lake to save her husband and nephew and doing he own stunts too. She also reportedly told Jane Fonda on set that she hated her but watching their scenes together you'd never know it but she's Kate, she can hate whoever she wants. Plus it's nifty to hear old stars curse, as well as flipping the bird. Norman and Ethel Thayer represent the old couple I believe most people would strive to be, married for decades but still madly in love with each other as ever.

Norman Thayer Jr. (Henry Fonda) and his wife Ethel (Katharine Hepburn) are back to their cottage on the 'Golden Pond' and the unforgettable enthusiastic "Come here, Norman! Look, the loons, the loons are welcoming us back!" magically encapsulates what their whole life was about: loving each other, and spending summer "On Golden Pond", they're a part of its history and it is a part of theirs. The images of the cottage with the magnificent nature surrounding it and interacting with the light of a rising or setting sun are absolutely dazzling, and never gratuitous. Rather than giving a sort of 'postcard' feeling to the film, they illustrate a sad reality: nature is cyclical; people's lives are not. The lake has been freezing and thawing, the leaves got green, yellow, orange, fell and were back on trees, but Norman and Ethel Thayer got older. Yet Ethel enjoys life for what it is, while Norman seems to resent it. Ethel embraces life with positivity, Norman contemplates death and their daughter Chelsea still carries the frustrations of a tormented childhood."On Golden Pond" deserves the title of being the ultimate movie about 'aging'. The protagonist's ages are seldom mentioned in movies, but maybe it's wrong. In real life, we do count the years, I just reached 30 and for me, it's big deal. Norman Thayer is 80, Ethel near 70, Chelsea's future husband (Dabney Coleman) is 45 and his son Billy Ray is 13, the film is the one that features the most lines about age, in order to establish a sort of hierarchy in attitude. The man who's 80 is allowed to act like a poop, the one who's 45 shyly asks him if he can share the same bed with his daughter, and with his 13-year old son, he displays authority. Chelsea almost commands Los Angeles, but with her father, she's a little girl again.That's life indeed, as if we all play characters within our true personality. That's what Norman does, and Coleman cleverly spots it when he finally retorts to his sarcasm by saying "you like playing that game". That's what Billy Ray does too, by acting like the young adult who doesn't want to stick with the two old guys while his father and stepmother are having a good time in Europe. But it all leads up to the same conclusion: "bullshit", a word overused by the kid and Norman thinks it's a good word. At the end, they have to compose with each other and they do it through fishing, probably the best generation-bonding activity that ever existed, and a source of great emotional, and sometimes heart-pounding moments."On Golden Pond" handles some of the most recognizable themes of family dramas, the unsolved parental conflict that poisoned Chelsea's life and filled her heart with anger and resentment, the grouchy old man in the twilight of his life with a sarcasm that is obviously a facade to hide a deep and tragic vulnerability, and in-between, the mother who struggles to reconcile them. But the reason I enumerate all these elements is not to point out how predictable is Mark Rydell's "On Golden Pond", the adaptation of a 1979 play written by Ernest Thompson, but how great it is despite its predictability. And the reason the film succeeds is that it's true to life. And that's what elevates "On Golden Pond" into a true cinematic treasure: it IS true to life. It has a unique capability to portray the inner strength and vulnerability of people in pivotal moments of their lives. I believed in the retired professor who celebrates his 80th birthday with a bitterness I could read in his eyes. I believed his devoted wife who's the only one who perceives the generosity, the genuine humanity of the man she spends most of her life with. And I believed in the daughter who endured her father's temperament and was jealous to see how easily her father got along with a boy who was 67-year older. In one extraordinary scene, Chelsea lets a bad word slip about her father, and although we could see the slap from her mother coming, it does resonate as a poignant and realistic moment.I guess I could go on and on the writing, and the directing, and there's no doubt they serve the film for good, but in "On Golden Pond", acting is the driving force and the main reason we believe in these characters and feel for them, genuinely, immediately and deeply. Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn and Jane Fonda embodies the triangular relationship with such realism and authenticity, I've never felt at one moment, that they were playing characters. There's one moment where the kid Billy Ray Jr. (Doug McKeon) asks Fonda if he ever thinks about death. And the reason he does is quite simple, something in Thayer's attitude betrays, if not a fear, at least an obsession with aging, even sadder because Henry Fonda is the same age, and we know that he would die one year later. And Henry Fonda's last role would be one of his career's highlight, earning him the Oscar for Best Actor, fully deserved, as he was able to portray pathos and anger, but still pulling some comedy in it. Katharine Hepburn won for her performance as Ethel, she was perfect indeed. And when she delivered the extraordinary declaration of love, the famous "shining armor" speech, I could almost see her golden heart shining. And Jane Fonda left me speechless, she desperately needed to be her father's friend … before it's too late. And you could tell the father and the daughter some bits of their personal history. And "On Golden Pond", it has an intimate, authentic feeling that makes the story personal; we do care for these people. The film succeeds as an unconventional family, love and coming- of-age story and, I repeat myself: it's truly a cinematic treasure.