The Goonies

The Goonies is a good children’s adventure with a noise problem, and Richard Donner deserves credit for knowing which part matters more. Working from Steven Spielberg’s story and Chris Columbus’s screenplay, he treats a treasure hunt as something children might throw themselves into without stopping to consider how unlikely it all is. The map, caves and traps supply plenty to be getting on with. What keeps us interested is the sense that this particular group would make just as much fuss about an ordinary afternoon.

Sean Astin gives Mikey an earnestness that the film needs more than another joke. He takes the hunt seriously, with none of the knowing amusement that might reassure adults while spoiling things for the children. We grew fond of this lot even while wishing they would stop shouting, largely because Astin makes their excitement easy to share. Corey Feldman’s Mouth and Jeff Cohen’s Chunk help Donner maintain the impression of a group that has never agreed on who should be allowed to speak.

J. Michael Riva’s production design gives the caves enough substance to make the children’s excitement persuasive. Their corners and depths keep us looking beyond whoever happens to be speaking. Nick McLean’s cinematography makes good use of that space without letting the setting overwhelm the young cast. We can enjoy the scale of the adventure and still read the faces that tell us how frightening it feels.

Michael Kahn’s editing has the less grateful job of turning all this activity into a story with some breathing room. The opening takes longer to get moving than it should, and once the hunt is under way the rush can make one predicament blur into the next. Dave Grusin’s score supplies an eager sense of discovery, but the music has to compete with a film already crowded with voices and incident. A few quieter stretches would make the danger more effective and the jokes easier to enjoy.

Columbus is better at giving the group a collective personality than making every member equally interesting. Ke Huy Quan’s Data registers quickly, while Kerri Green’s Andy and Martha Plimpton’s Stef get less to establish them beyond their place in the gang. Anne Ramsey, as Mama Fratelli, makes a useful counterweight: a grown-up menace broad enough to suit the adventure without making danger seem entirely pretend. The children need someone to be afraid of, and Ramsey understands the value of being disagreeable.

As a family adventure, the film is unusually willing to let its children be exasperating. Donner allows their impatience and noise to remain part of their appeal, rather than tidying everyone into exemplary little explorers. Some of the plotting feels arranged to deliver another obstacle at precisely the required moment, and the warmth can be pressed too hard. Yet the treasure hunt gives its young characters something to do beyond waiting for adults to explain the next step.

At 114 minutes, it asks for a little more patience than its young adventurers tend to show. It carries a PG, though the traps and threatening adults may still trouble children who dislike being frightened. For those already eager to follow a map underground, there is enough here to justify the occasional test of endurance. Take the noise seriously as a caveat, especially if the evening is meant to calm the household down.