Brainstorm Reviews

The premise is this: scientists Lillian Reynolds and Michael Brace (Louise Fletcher and Christopher Walken) have been experimenting with a device that can get into the brain to record emotions and sensations, so that another person can then play them back and experience them as if firsthand. The device would permit the second subject to feel what it is to die, for example. This could have been a wonderful film, but the makers fell in love with the hardware and forgot the humanity. BRAINSTORM is chockablock with special effects that sometimes obstruct rather than enhance the story. The film cost $18 million, $6 million of which came from the insurance company that carried the policy on Natalie Wood's life. But for all that money, not enough of it shows up on-screen. There's a lot of humor in the film to leaven the gritty moments, especially when Walken experiences orgasm through the machine. Fletcher is a revelation to anyone who thought she'd left it all in the lap of Nurse Ratchet in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST. Walken walks through his part as though he's just been awakened. This film was Natalie Wood's last performance before her death at Catalina Island on November 29, 1981.