Fedoras, Bullwhips and Macaroni and Cheese

When people ask me what I thought about "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls", I tell them its the cinematic equivalent of comfort food. It's something from a bygone era (both in setting and actual viewing history for the audience) that reminds us of simpler, better times and as long as you don't expect too much of it other than to be exactly what you remembered it as, you'll be OK.

"Indy 4" opens in 1957, at Area 51 in Nevada, where Soviet spies have infiltrated a top secret military installation in search of a powerful artifact. Indiana Jones is working for the government there and becomes embroiled (surprise!) in the confrontation with the Soviets, culminating in first the betrayal of his longtime partner, a fight in a warehouse (yes, the same warehouse that we saw at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"), a long chase through the desert and a nuclear bomb test. Later Indy is approached by one "Mud" Williams, a cocky but resourceful and sincere young man who requests Indy's help in locating his mother who's been kidnapped by agents unknown who are hope to use her to help locate an artifact sought out by the boy's stepfather, also now missing. Indy recognizes the stepfather as a former associate and despite an initial period of wariness, agrees to help the boy.

Indy later discovers that the stepfather was searching for a legendary lost city that supposedly housed one of the infamous crystal skulls, an object of purported great mystical power, and that the same Soviet agents that infiltrated Area 51 are now responsible for the kidnappings of Mud's mother and stepfather, and that his connection to Mud's mother is far greater than he would have imagined. Indy is faced with struggles both internal and external as he battles to keep the crystal skull safe from nefarious hands and to save the "family" he never had in the process.

The Indiana Jones series has changed slightly in the 27 years since it first appeared, as it should. Harrison Ford is now 65 years old, and though he is still a formidable action hero, you get the feeling this is probably his swan song as the incredibly lucky (and by turns, incredibly UNLUCKY) Indy. There' s a certain world weariness to Indy's out loud thoughts about all the deaths he's experienced, including that of his father, played by the late Sean Connery, in a "picture and sad music only" cameo. Without posting a spoiler, the ending of the film, while it doesn't precisely put Indy in retirement, certainly suggests he's going to be busy with more than just seeking out mystical objects and may have found a "treasure" more valuable than any he's sought or attained before. And to be fair, it would be a good place to end the series, with the revelations of this film really bringing the series to a natural and ultimately, quite positive and fulfilling conclusion.

But as a whole this film embraces the same type of philsophy and raison de etre that the other films in the series did. Conceived as an homage and open love letter to the old Republic serials of the 30s and 40s, it has evolved over the years into a kind of living testament to the joy of filmgoing itself, containing all the rollicking, over the top action (I particularly enjoyed the swordfight on top of the racing jeeps) and straight forward "good versus evil" that an audience pummeled by the negativity of the general mass culture has been pining for, perhaps for decades. The film doesn't require much more from the audience than to simply sit back and enjoy the ride; with its honest, brave incorruptible heroes and craven, power hungry villains, its outrageous chase and fight scenes and tongue in cheek tone, it really defines 20th century American cinematic escapism. The beauty and artistry of "Indy 4" comes from the way it is able to pull off these broad strokes in a way that never seems tired or overly predictable.

The film is catapulted above the realm of simple exploitation action film by several key elements. It's no surprise that the creative minds behind this enterprise, including Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas, would be able to craft a creative and original chapter of the series that advances the story without sacrificing the core appeal, nor that John Williams' stirring score once again captures an atmosphere of larger than life derring do and adventure. It's great to see Cate Blanchett shine in an obviously fun role, and Shia LeBouf works well as "Mud" Williams and of course it's great to see Karen Allen back after 27 years as Marion Ravenwood (where has this buried treasure been hiding? is what I want to know). Ford is still iconic (and laconic) as Indiana Jones, a truly iconic character in American cinema. I've been trying to think of another character that's had a similarly long run in the movies and always been played by the same actor, and the only one I can come up with is "Dirty Harry" who lasted a total of 23 years from 1971 to 1994, and was always played by Clint Eastwood. Jones blows Harry away by lasting 27 years, though Harry does have the edge on total movies (5-4).


It's really a testament to Ford's appeal as an actor to have portrayed a character that has stood the test of time and won a truly unique place in the American zeitgeist. Even with visible aging, we still thrill to Indy beating the bad guys, chasing down lost totems of power, rescuing fair maidens and living a life of adventure. It helps a bit that he's rooted in an earlier, at least somewhat simpler era where the winds of change don't blow quite so hard and so quickly. But it is also telling to see how desperately America, despite all its declared and perceived cynicism, yearns to see a sterling hero in a black and white world. If I didn't know better, I'd say that somewhere lurking under all that faux sophistication and obligatory world weariness we still want the comfort of those things that sustained us as children; food that nourished us regardless of the dubious nutritional content, and films that made us feel like the world was an understandable place with hope of happy endings, if the theater and maybe elsewhere too.

The film is not perfect of course. There's some a bit too much cute dialogue among Indy and his group at times and for anyone who's seen "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (read: everybody) the ending of this film is very, very familiar. But none of this is going to do much to mute the intense sense of good feeling and warmth it easily engenders. There is truly a need of drama that asks difficult questions about our world and leaves no easy answers, but I'd argue there's an equal need for the simple comfort of well crafted escapism, like the Indiana Jones series that succeeds, at least in the confines of the darkened theater, in making sense of the morally ambiguous world we live in and reinforces the notion that once in a while, it's OK to just feel good.