GOLDEN YEARS

        

Today's been a funny old day.

Started Golden Years (1991) last night, finished it this afternoon. Not watched it since 1995. Kinda wish I hadn't revisited it - that's a long chunk of time wasted for very little reward. 

I was always fascinated by the video cassette that always seemed to be on sale in Woolworths, and this would have been watched at my friend Stuart's house- the only other person who was as obsessed with Stephen King as me and who would have had the bloody persistance to grind through something as mediocre as this.

This is basically the plot of Tod Robbins' 'The Bilbous Baby' (The Thrill Book, 1st July, 1919) - an old man gets younger. You could also say that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is basically the plot of Golden Years but without the mad professor and green gas explosions.

King wrote this especially for CBS and said that if it wasn't for Twin Peaks, something like this wouldn't have been possible. I mean King really tries, and there are some brilliant actors in this -  Frances Sternhagen (was also in Misery)! Ed Lauter (also in Cujo)! Felicity Huffman! Stephen Root! But it's all very slow and boring. Not even a King cameo can lift this.

The story about a grouchy janitor who has been showered in green goo that's really the fountain of youth who has to go on the run from The Shop who want what he has, but they should have just stayed at the facility where it was produced because they would have the answers anyway - gives you, in a nutshell, why this was such a waste of time. CBS saw sense and stopped making more episodes. King wanted 4 more hours to wrap the story up. CBS said no and just tinkered with the last episode to make the bitter pill a little easier to swallow.

I'm going to watch a King film I love tomorrow.

03/01/2022