Movie Review: Innerspace (1987)

This is certainly a weird mix of science fiction, fantasy, action/adventure, and comedy. But it’s interesting, and quite entertaining. I give a lot of credit to director Joe Dante for pulling it off, as well as the likable cast of Martin Short, Dennis Quaid, and Meg Ryan. They bring it all together into a fun cult classic of a movie.

The plot itself seems more like a Disney attraction than a typical movie. Dennis Quaid is part of some kind of scientific program to shrink to a microscopic size, but he accidentally ends up in the body of a lowly grocery store clerk played by Martin Short.

Typically movies where a member of the Quaid family plays a pilot end up being very memorable. There’s of course Independence Day, with Dennis’s brother, Randy, but more notable, of course, there’s The Right Stuff, with Dennis playing Gordo Cooper. I mention that only because it’s one of the greatest movies of all time. It really doesn’t have a lot to do with this.

My favourite performance here is easily Martin Short. I’ve never been a big fan of his, as I find him to be too loud and too annoying a lot of times, but he does a great job here. There’s some physical comedy, as he has to act all weird, but it’s more of a subtle kind of humor, though still with the same kind of energy you’re used to seeing from him.

This movie is a blast from start to finish. It’s probably not a classic, but it definitely deserves to have more attention surrounding it than it does.

Rating: 7/10