joshmartinzal As often as I can, I try to give a second, or a third watch to one of those movies, somehow powerfully charming for me. I go back to them, again and again, to confirm my feelings about the story that enchanted me when I saw it for the first time.The films don't change, they are always the same, forever and ever. It's just you, me, those who are not the same anymore. So, if I fall in love again with the film I first watched as a teenager, when I took my mother with me to the local movie theatre and now, again, as I did by that time, cried and laughed at this story about life and getting old, oh well, that's simply because the film is that good.

mark.waltz Who would think that the story of an elderly couple spending what is possibly their last summer together on their New England lake-front cottage and resolving old issues could end up being the surprise hit of the 1981 Christmas movie season? When those two elderly people are the legendary Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, the curiosity is definitely a factor in attracting audiences, but quick great reviews and excellent word of mouth made this pack audiences in. Even the young film audiences in a year filled with "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Clash of the Titans" and "Arthur" flocked to see this, and now they are passing their discovery onto their own children.Norman Thayer is the epitome of the grouchy octogenarian who has been estranged from his daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) for many years. She has remained close to her mother Ethel ("Thounds like I'm listhsping", Norman says in a more lighthearted moment as he reveals that her impending married name almost kept him from meeting her down the church aisle) but the rebellious teenaged years and not so understanding, strict father kept her from establishing a close bond with him as an adult. Now she's engaged to dentist Bill Ray (Dabney Coleman in a role a far cry from his lecherous boss in "Nine to Five", also with Jane) and soon to be stepmother to his son Billy Ray (Doug McKeon) whom she wants Norman and Ethel to take care of while she goes on a trip to Europe with Coleman. Much to Ethel's delight, Norman and Billy begin to bond, and when Chelsea returns, she finds herself envious over the new friendship which she has pined for but never pursued.Many of us can identify with the cold relationship between Norman and Chelsea, as well as Norman's bonding with the young boy who doesn't seem to fear him as Chelsea obviously did. The entire cast gives bravo performances, but it is the Oscar Winning Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn (her fourth!) who dominate here. At times, you do want to slap Jane like Cher did to Nicolas Cage in "Moonstruck" and yell, "Snap out of it!", but as she discloses, even a successful businesswoman can find her old insecurities rising when confronted with a past she hasn't been able to get over. Katharine is wise and understanding, but even she isn't above disciplining her embittered daughter. "That son of a bitch is my husband!", she reminds Jane. To see father and daughter working together after so much history of differences in their own lives and really bonding is touching, as it is to see Henry and Kate together in their first and only film. Then, there's seeing the rebel of the 1930's (Kate) with the rebel of the 70's (Jane), and there is magic in this mother/daughter pairing.McKeon strikes a cord here, too, working well with the older actors, especially Henry. The direction by Mark Rydell is superb, and the lake setting is gorgeous. I can tell you from experience that having spent several summers on New England set lakes in cottages exactly like this, the movie's reality level increased for me because of how similar it looked. Dave Grusin's music is also gorgeous, whether profound and sad as the opening credits play, to triumphant as McKeon takes the Thayers boat out on his own, to bittersweet as the closing credits roll after Ethel and Norman have bid farewell to their summer home which we all hope will not be their last there together. This has been successfully remade for T.V. and revived on Broadway, but there will never be another version like this, and it will enter your heart for eternity just as Kate says lovingly to Norman, "You are my knight in shining armor." Keep the handkerchief handy, even if this is a repeat viewing.

Rocco Campanaro This stunning picture marking the final film appearance of legendary screen legend Mr Henry Fonda is a terrific portrayal of the turbulent and distant relationship between father and his on screen and off-screen daughter Jane Fonda. Needless to say, the real star of this picture is Fonda himself playing the cranky and despondent old poop that is Norman Thayer.The whole point with this picture was moving away from the misconception that aging is something to fear in this world, but it is rather something that needs to be embraced and welcomed into one's life – including Norman. The relationship between the father and daughter of the picture is something of central significance throughout the play. Upon Jane Fonda's return in the final scenes of the movie to the idealistic image of her father bonding with her stepson in a way he never did quite did with her reinforces the idea that it is indeed never too late to reconcile the paternal bonds that had, at once, proved almost impossible to retain.What really stood out from this picture is the chemistry between the two lead roles; Hepburn and Fonda, in their Oscar-winning performances, appear to not capture the sexualized and lustful kind of chemistry but a kind that's most genuine, relatable and honest to audiences alike.The pictures traditional and authentic message resonates that we should quit the discrepancies and controversies of the past and aim to begin the path of forgiveness and reconciliation. Strangely, the weakest section of the picture was the undeveloped 'lack of bond' between Fonda's character and his daughter. The pair's scenes demonstrated a lack of raw emotion and total emptiness - odd considering the storyline appeared to showcase their real-life lack of paternal bonding in Jane's adolescent years.Nonetheless, no one can take away the simply beauty and treasure that is 1981's On Golden Pond. The picture's sweet and gentle plot focusing on an elderly man's search for a greater meaning to growing older in the form of the late Henry Fonda with his kind-hearted and sensible wife, the also late, Ms Katharine Hepburn.

ElMaruecan82 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.