Richard Donner took unlikely adventures seriously and gave their people room to be awkward, excitable and funny. We rate his warmth and his trust in actors, though The Goonies shows how readily that freedom could become noise.
Fi1m perspective
In The Goonies (1985), the children seem never to have settled who is allowed to speak. Richard Donner lets them interrupt and exasperate one another without making them behave better for the adults watching. The treasure map, caves and traps matter, but so does the impression that these children would be equally noisy with nothing much to do. We like him for taking their excitement seriously, even when we could do with a little less of it.
That willingness to believe in unlikely material runs through the career. The Omen (1976) established him in features, and Superman (1978) treated its superhero with dramatic seriousness rather than making him an excuse for parody. Lethal Weapon (1987) gave his interest in character relationships a buddy-cop pairing; he directed all four films in the series through 1998. His recurring collaborators included actor Mel Gibson and editor Stuart Baird. Later credits included Maverick (1994), with 16 Blocks (2006) his final film.
In The Goonies, that attention to character comes down to the way he directs Sean Astin as Mikey. Astin treats the hunt with an earnestness that gives the others’ commotion a purpose, while Corey Feldman’s Mouth and Jeff Cohen’s Chunk keep the group from becoming too orderly. We grew fond of them because Astin made the adventure feel worth believing in, even while the shouting wore us down. Working from Steven Spielberg’s story and Chris Columbus’s screenplay, Donner leaves the children impatient and difficult rather than presenting a set of model explorers.
The cost is a film whose pacing wobbles and whose warmth can feel pressed upon us. Obstacles sometimes arrive too neatly, and a little less shouting would have helped. The familiar description of him as a dependable studio craftsman fits, though it gives too little credit to his handling of actors. Making these children appealing without making them polite takes judgement. For a family adventure, The Goonies remains a good place to start, provided a quiet evening is not the plan.
Biography
Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg) was an American film director and producer. Born on 24 April 1930 in the Bronx, New York, he died on 5 July 2021 in Los Angeles, California. He began his career directing television episodes in the late 1950s and 1960s before moving to feature films.
Donner directed The Omen (1976) and the superhero film Superman (1978). He directed and produced The Goonies (1985) and directed and produced the first Lethal Weapon film (1987), going on to direct its three sequels. Other notable directorial credits include Scrooged (1988) and Maverick (1994).
With his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner, he ran The Donners' Company production firm. He also produced the Free Willy and X-Men film series and received the President's Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in 2000.
