Doubleback to Buford Tannen
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
She tried not to, but Clara couldn't help but laugh at the "Kick Me" sign that Marty had put on Doc's back.
It may not be the best out of three, but Back to the Future III is still one hell of an entertaining film. Why? It eschews the problems most people had with the second one (too convoluted) to tell a kickass science fiction cowboy story about Doc Brown’s finally getting a piece of ass. Ah well, that’s the power of love, I suspect.
At the end of Back to the Future II, you may recall, the DeLorean takes a lightning bolt in 1955, sending Doc (Christopher Lloyd) back to 1885, where he sends a long range telegram to tell Marty (Michael J. Fox) not to come looking for him, as he’s happy. 1955 Doc and Marty do a little research and find that Doc was actually killed by one of Biff’s (Thomas Wilson) relations, Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen. They find the DeLorean from 1885, repair it with old Doc’s instructions to get Marty back to 1985, but Marty goes back for his friend instead.
Whereas the second film in the series embraced paradox, and stepped over the line a few times, this one flirts with it, but never quite steps over the boundary of unbelievability. When Doc accidentally steps in and saves a school teacher named Clara (Mary Steenburgen) from falling over a cliff, he sets into motion a series of events, which, like the first film leads to an improbable way to get the flux capacitor…fluxing.
This is really Christopher Lloyd’s movie. Marty’s story is just on the periphery here, but mostly, we’re looking at a weird science nerd love story here. And, a strange cameo from ZZ Top. The western setting is neat and all, but director Robert Zemeckis, like in most of his films, knows that the setting is secondary to the story, and we’re basically revisiting the best of the series, Back to the Future, with a slight twist on it. Doc instead of Marty this time. Wilson gives a stronger performance as Buford Tannen this time, and Mary Steenburgen is a delight as the hot schoolteacher who just wants her nerd. Marty delivers my favorite line in the entire trilogy in this film “Doc, why do we always have to cut these things so damn close!”
Sure, the ending is a bit of weird fan service, and poor Einstein and Jennifer (Elizabeth Shue) have been hanging around with the universe changing around them unknowingly, but, this a Zemeckis film. At least, one before Beowulf (sigh) so you know you’re headed for a happy ending…just like at a massage parlor. With this one, just sit back and enjoy the ride. You don’t even have to think that hard on this one…though they do get you to try with the changing name of the ravine. Good movie, good fun, and a good way to finish things off.
Tags: Review, Science Fiction
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