Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

When people talk about true science-fiction, this is the kind of thing they speak of: a work of art that not only deals with things beyond our world but possesses a genuine curiosity about them and the effect that could be had on humanity. The wide-eyed sense of wonder on display here is marvelous, yet the film's most impressive achievement is that it doesn't discount the obsession that fulfilling one's curiosity can entail. Also, it's one of the most spiritual films I think I've ever seen, with the aliens posing possibly as a stand-in for God, the ultimate unknowable. (Dreyfuss's fanaticism, in particular, can be easily read as conversion fervor.) The climax at Devil's Tower is one of the finest stretches of film I've seen yet. Remember when Spielberg made entertaining and unforgettable films that weren't choked with either bad-father subtext or rampant sappiness? That was awesome.

Grade: A