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Asri-unix.225 net.movies utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!menlo70!sri-unix!mclure Tue Dec 15 15:01:26 1981 On Golden Pond 4 1204 03 Dec 81 BC-REVIEW-''POND'' (Newhouse 003) Film review, suggested for use when ''On Golden Pond'' opens at local theaters By RICHARD FREEDMAN Newhouse News Service (UNDATED) Last year it was ''Ordinary People.'' Two years ago it was ''Kramer vs. Kramer.'' Every year seems to produce its big, heart-warming, Oscar-cadging domestic drama - and this year's prime candidate is ''On Golden Pond.'' Consider the failsafe ingredients: a hit Broadway play by Ernest Thompson that neatly Neil Simonizes the problems of growing old, acted to perfection by America's own geriatric sweethearts, Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, with Fonda's real-life daughter Jane playing his fictional daughter Chelsea. All are a joy to watch as they're put through their carefully calibrated paces by director Mark Rydell, and so are Dabney Coleman as Chelsea's jargon-spouting dentist fiance Bill and Doug McKeon as his tow-headed, 13-year-old son by a previous marriage. So is the nature photography of Billy Williams, as it lovingly captures the idyllic New Hampshire summer resort in all its moods and seasons, making you wonder if the title shouldn't really be ''On Walden Pond.'' But for all the shots we get of loons nesting and trout jumping, for all the talk about impending death and the generation gap, ''On Golden Pond'' remains a slickly sentimental Broadway confection. Fonda is retired Prof. Norman Thayer Jr. (We never are told what he taught), and Hepburn is his spunky, long-suffering, but adoring wife Ethel. They are preparing to spend their at the pond. They hope to be joined for Norman's 80th birthday party chelsea. We also ne- ver are told what estranged her, except that maybe Dad really wanted a son he could instruct in the manly art of fishiy daughter who turned out to be Jane Fonda. For Norman is what used to be ectionately called a ''character'' - crabby, bumbling, self-absorbed, but good as gold underneath it all. Ethel perfectly complements him her zest for bird-watching and generally upbeat view of life. But there are signs that this summer may be Norman's last. Even at the bof the season, the golden sunlight shimmering on the w. Norman is beginning to have memory lapses; sent out to gather strawberries, he panics when he forgets the oft-traveled road home. Entaughter Chelsea with Bill and his son in tow. She's made the mistake of deserting crusty old New England for glitzy Southern California. So the fiance uses words like ''ambiance'' and ''feels good about himself'' while his son uses cuss words and never has read ''Treasure Island.'' An opportunity comes to educate the lad when his father and future stepmother take off for a month in Europe, leaving him with Norman and Ethel. At first nobody is happy about this, but by the time Bill and Chelsea return - properly married now - Norman has taught thh instead of cruise- for girls, and the boy has taught Gramps to take a more positive view of the little life remaining to him. Even fathd daughter have become reconciled, and the film ends with the general love-in necessary to send audiences home with a song in their hearts anetermination - usually brief - to be kinder to their kinfolk. ''On Golden Pond'' is filled with the requisite dumb symbolism (a md a papa loon left alone on the lake at the end); the requisite cuteness (Norman is out to catch a particular giant old trout he's named WER(: THE REQUISITE MELODRAMA (a near-drowning while fishing); and machine-tooled gags aplenty. What saves it is the truly extraordinary performances, especially by Fonda pere, whose bumbling irritability, glum acceptancdeath (and love) and dry way with a one-liner g... ive ''On Golden Pond'' the backbone it needs. Like a loon landing on Golden Pondfilm itself just skims the issues of aging and parent-child-grandchild relationships. But it does so warmly, humorously and as comfortably f Fonda's old fishing boots. To ask more - say, the uncomfortts into selfish old age Ingmar Bergman provided in ''Wild Strawberries'' - would be to ask for box office disaster. So let's be haith the limited emotional gifts ''On Golden Pond'' has for us. X X X FILM CLIP: ''On Golden Pond.'' Henry Fonda and Katharinepburn face what probably will be their last summer together, joined by daughter Jane Fonda, her fiance and his son. Sentimental about age and the gene- ration gap, but consummately acted by stars. SG END FREEDMAN

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