Innerspace (1987)

Directed by Joe Dante. Starring Martin Short, Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, Robert Picardo, Kevin McCarthy, Fiona Lewis, Harold Sylvester, Wendy Schaal, John Hora, William Schallert, Vernon Wells, Mark L. Taylor, Henry Gibson, Kevin Hooks. [PG]

Zany sci-fi comedy at the intersection of everyman-in-danger thrillers and Fantastic Voyage. Test pilot Quaid is in the cockpit of a submersible vehicle shrunk down to microscopic size to enter the body of a wascally wabbit, but when a rival organization interferes and tries to steal the tech, he accidentally gets injected into the body of a hypochondriac cashier (Short). Short has never been better in a motion picture and Quaid is at his Cheshire cat-grinning best; even though they hardly ever share space in the same camera shot, they’re “together” for the majority of the film, develop a diverting rapport, and avoid the clichéd pitfalls of this kind of scenario—their disagreements and jealousies (involving Quaid’s ex-girlfriend reporter played by Ryan) are practically underplayed compared to the slapstick, hardware, and goofiness. Writer Jeffrey Boam (from a story idea by Chip Proser) keeps coming up with giddy new wrinkles, and director Joe Dante’s expertise in screwy humor and manic mayhem is put to good use. Overextended, to be sure, but never tiresome. Academy Award-winning visual effects represent the only Oscar win (or nomination) for one of Dante’s pictures. Steven Spielberg was one of the executive producers. As expected for the director’s output, Dick Miller makes an appearance.

75/100