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Anybody who has written him off because of his string of stinkers--or anybody who's too young to remember The Goodbye Girl--may be shocked at the accomplishment and nuance of Richard Dreyfuss's performance in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Here, he plays a man possessed; contacted by aliens, he (along with other members of the "chosen") is drawn toward the site of the incipient landing: Devil's Tower, in rural Wyoming. As in many Spielberg films, there are no personalized enemies; the struggle is between those who have been called and a scientific establishment that seeks to protect them by keeping them away from the arriving spacecraft. The ship, and the special effects in general, are every bit as jaw-dropping on the small screen as they were in the theater (well, almost). Released in 1977 as a cerebral alternative to the swashbuckling science fiction epics then in vogue, Close Encounters now seems almost wholesome in its representation of alien contact and interested less in philosophizing about extraterrestrials than it is in examining the nature of the inner "call." Ultimately a motion picture about the obsession of the driven artist or determined visionary, Close Encounters comes complete with the stock Spielberg wives and girlfriends who seek to tether the dreamy, possessed protagonists to the more mundane concerns of the everyday. So a spectacular, seminal motion picture indeed, but one with gender politics that are all too terrestrial. --Miles Bethany
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Lights Over The Devil's Tower - "Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen"
Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is sent out on an emergency repair job late one night. While traveling alone on an isolated road he encounters the unexpected, an unidentified flying object is spotted overhead. The object also sees him, shining a bright light on his vehicle which causes a sunburn effect to appear on his face the next morning.
However Roy soon discovers he has received more than just a sunburn during the strange proceedings of the previous night. An idea, or impulse has overcome him and he isn't sure what it all means. He only knows "it's important."
Soon his strange behavior and obsession with the experience results in his wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) and three children packing up and moving out. Undetered by their absence Roy continues on with his quest to discover what he's supposed to do. Roy finds the answer when he looks upon the image of a monolithic rock formation in Wyoming known as the "Devil's Tower." The only question that remains is can he get there in time to greet the ship when it arrives?
An ingenious blending of twentieth century UFO lore with overt Christian symbology and a religious-like fervor makes Steven Spielberg's '77 sci-fi classic more relevant today than ever.
Another amazing acting job by Richard Dreyfuss along with a surprisingly good supporting role by the legendary French director Francois Truffaut and the adorable little Cary Guffey as "Barry!"