1980s drama film fantasy film romantic comedy romance film

Always

1989 · United States · 117 min

Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenplay: Dalton Trumbo, Jerry Belson
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
Music: John Williams
Cinematography: Mikael Salomon
Editing: Michael Kahn
Production company: Amblin Entertainment
Based on: A Guy Named Joe

What the critics say

70 % Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews50 Metacritic /100

Cast

Brad Johnson

What it is about

Pete Sandich is an aerial firefighting pilot whose confidence in the air keeps pushing him toward greater risks, much to the worry of his girlfriend Dorinda Durston, a pilot who also works as an air traffic controller at the base. When a moment of hesitation puts a colleague's life in danger, the story turns to the couple and the choices each must face. After an unexpected loss, Pete finds his existence has changed and he must take on a task that requires him to watch from the outside as the people he loved move on.

How it was made

The film is a remake of A Guy Named Joe (1943), moving its wartime story into a modern firefighting setting. Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss had talked about remaking the original since making Jaws, and the project, first planned at MGM, took about ten years to reach the screen. The screenplay is credited to Dalton Trumbo and Jerry Belson. Principal photography began on May 15, 1989, in northwestern Montana's Kootenai National Forest, with hundreds of Libby residents recruited as extras, and wrapped in August. Aerial sequences combined aerial photography, rear projection and models, and footage of Yellowstone's 1988 fires was incorporated. Audrey Hepburn appears in a brief role, her final film before retiring, and donated much of her fee to UNICEF. John Williams' score and The Platters' Smoke Gets in Your Eyes give the film its tone.

Reception and legacy

Always was released in the United States on December 22, 1989, and received mixed reviews. It was a modest box-office success, grossing about $74 million worldwide against a $31 million budget. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 72% approval rating from 29 reviews. Over time it is remembered mainly as one of Spielberg's romantic ghost stories, less celebrated than his biggest hits, but valued for its melancholy tone and for being Hepburn's last screen appearance.