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Alan Arkin is a force of nature in his portrayal of Simon, an average college professor with big dreams of being awarded the Nobel Prize.
In a secluded research facility in Maine, an eclectic group of five super geniuses, led by Dr. Carl Becker (Austin Pendleton), are at a crossroads and craft the next great question - how can we study how people would react if an extra-terrestrial were to come to Earth?
Well, they set their sights on Simon and after bringing him to the institute and doing tests on him, their plan unfolds. After gaining his trust, they then brainwash Simon by putting him in a sensory deprivation tank for days on end. When they pull him out, they take him back to a primordial state and we see Alan Arkin work through era upon era of evolution from single-celled organisms to a modern human. I have watched Arkin in a few other things, but this is the first I have been able to witness his genius level physical comedy.
From there, they trick him into thinking he is from another world and reluctantly let him make a statement to the world. Wouldn't you know it, his messages instantly resonate with the masses and the eggheads lose control of the situation almost immediately.
All told, Simon puts his finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist of the late 70s -early 80s era of change in the post-VietnamV/post-Watergate era. The questions of "why are we here?' and "what does this all mean?" are tackled along with issues of technology seeping into most aspects of our lives. I would recommend it for Alan Arkin's performance alone, as well as a short but delightful chunk of the movie with the legendary Madeline Kahn. The plot gets bogged down in spots, but there are some amazing surprises along the way.
As a side note, I realized that in 1980, there were TWO movies released that prominently featured sensory deprivation tanks. In Simon, the tank was used for comedic effect, where the in the William Hurt/Blair Brown movie Altered States, the creative team went with the darker science fiction approach.
