There are some schools of thought that Jeff Bridges has essentially, two modes of acting. He’s either playing “the Dude” from The Big Lebowski or the titular Starman from Starman. This Bridges taxonomy works even when you apply it to movies that predate both films. In Tron, he’s Dude Bridges and in The Last Unicorn, he’s more like Starman Bridges. Basically, he’s either a lovable rapscallion or a tender weirdo.
In Starman — which was released on December 14, 1984 — Jeff Bridges delivered a fantastic performance as an alien who takes the form of a widow’s deceased husband. It’s a movie that pre-dates Ghost in its slightly bittersweet and supernatural love story, but also is a surprisingly effective and zenned-out movie from John Carpenter, better known for his thriller/horror movies than nice sci-fi fare. Because, essentially, that’s what makes Starman so unique. It’s a nice sci-fi movie, which feels like a part of a subgenre that almost doesn’t exist anymore.
There’s some kind of universe in which you could almost classify Starman as a rom-com. When grieving widow Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen) is confronted with a glowing alien ball, a lock of her hair is used to make the alien being a flesh-and-blood copy of her husband. In another version of this movie, bittersweet hilarity would ensue, which on some level does happen. As the alien version of “Scott,” Bridges gets the requisite amount of alien-misunderstanding-things moments of comedy. When consulting a map to get the Starman to a specific destination, Jenny notes that they might be headed to “Arizona, maybe?” The Starman doesn’t grasp that this is a question, and refers to the location as literally, “Arizona Maybe.”
If you’re not okay with these borderline-Coneheads-level jokes, you’re not going to enjoy Starman. The movie is stronger for its goofiness, not weaker. While it is a kind of grisly premise, the humorous pluck from Karen Allen carries half the movie, while Bridges carries the other. Today, we’d probably think of the titular Starman as slightly autism-coded, which, on some level, could make the movie a kind of modern guide for couples in which one person has been diagnosed neurodivergent, while the other partner is neurotypical. (Because, obviously, aliens would be neurodivergent, right?)
The actual plot of Starman is fairly typical of the “nice alien” storyline that pervades other ‘80s movies like E.T. and Mac and Me. The difference here is that Starman brings in vibes from the original version of The Day the Earth Stood Still since the visiting alien appears human throughout the film. The alien-ness of the alien is made strange, not because he looks weird, but because he thinks differently about morality, life, the universe, and everything. Of course, things get wild when Jenny gets pregnant with the Starman’s alien baby, which everyone is going to have an opinion about.
While these concepts are fairly edgy (should she keep the alien baby?) the movie firmly plants our sympathies with Starman and Jenny and thus avoids any moral shades of grey. The feds wants to intervene and stop the Starman, and so Jenny, in honor of her love for her husband and this guy, goes on the run. Essentially, Carpenter turns the movie into two literally star-crossed lovers against the entire world, with a better future for the human race at stake.
There’s a bit of a Christ allusion in the film because, of course, the Starman can’t survive the rigors of Earth, but there’s a chance that his unborn son can redeem him. Fans of science fiction novels will notice a kinder version of Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Stranger Land here. Or perhaps more accurately, Starman is a less rock-and-roll version of David Bowie’s 1967 cult classic, The Man Who Fell to Earth. If E.T. was the kind of movie made for the whole family, and Close Encounters was a sci-fi movie for alien adduction obsessives, then Starman split the difference.
This was a date night sci-fi movie with a beating human heart. Its themes were corny and serious at the same time, and on paper, it shouldn’t have worked. But thanks to expert direction from Carpenter, and wonderful performances from Allen and Bridges, this sci-fi sleeper has aged very well. Although a short-lived Starman TV series (starring Robert Hays) followed in 1986, it was utterly unnecessary. We don’t need a reboot, remake, or sequel to this movie because the original hit all the right notes, perfectly, the first time.
