Reasonable movie.

Always is yet another very good effort from legendary director Steven Spielberg; but unfortunately this film is not one of his best efforts. I am glad to report that the film boasts all the qualities we expect in a Spielberg film like this: it's for the family and contains good production values. But behind all this there are several flaws that unashamedly emerge.

A daredevil pilot named Pete Sandich (Dreyfuss) is the best at what he does; flying an aircraft that is used for putting out forest fires by dousing the flames with water. He finds true love in a girl named Dorinda (Hunter) who wishes for Pete to give up his job due to the danger involved. During a daring mission Pete saves his best friend Al (Goodman), but as a result Pete is in fact killed. Despite being killed in the horrible accident, Pete soon comes back in the form of a ghost. After the initial shock of dying Pete decides to give all his knowledge and experience to a promising young pilot. Now that Pete is dead he needs someone as skilled as him to continue saving lives.

Always is a film that certainly contains an interesting concept; and it goes without saying that nobody could've done better than Spielberg. However, the film's ultimate flaw was that it had a tendency to be far too cute and "feel good". That being said, it's a bit of a tear jerker at times and has been produced by a man who is a master at his craft.

Richard Dreyfuss has been in several Spielberg productions before this film. And although Always is no Jaws or Close Encounters of the Third Kind I felt that Dreyfuss was determined and gave the film everything he could. He was highly engaging and carried the film with great skill.

Steven Spielberg will always be one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema and his directing is first-rate. I never would have expected a talented director like Spielberg to be involved in such a film. I am happy that he was able to bring some appeal to a highly flawed screenplay.

Always is a pleasant emotional journey that is a respectful homage to the men who risk their lives everyday to put out forest fires.

I found the film to be both impressive and disappointing. On the one hand I can't fault the filmmaking. But on the other hand its major flaw was being too long as well as being far too cute. If you're looking for a pleasant evening to spend with the family I believe that Always would be a good choice to rent.