This summer marks the forty fifth anniversary of “Jaws”, the classic thriller directed by Stephen Spielberg and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss. This is the best summer movie of all time. The good news right now is much of America has reopened-Churches, restaurants, malls, and bookstores are back up and running. The bad news remains that movie theaters are not up and running and it may take some time for cinemas to return.
In any case, it is time to return to doing some movie reviews for this blog. “Jaws” is based on the novel by Peter Benchley. The film established Stephen Spielberg as a great director of American cinema.
The story is set on the fictional island of Amity. A shark has arrived and begins devouring swimmers. The Chief of Police named Martin Brody (Scheider) is retired from the NYPD and left New York at a time when New York was a mess during the 1970’s. Much like New York has become once again under its current Mayor.
The Chief seeks to close the beaches and is prevented from doing so by the Mayor and the Town Council who are concerned about the economic problems that would occur in the event that tourists stopped coming to Amity. The Mayor insists on keeping the beaches open.
The Chief is subsequently joined by Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss) from an institute that studies sharks. The two of them attempt to warn the Mayor to close the beaches but to no avail. The Fourth of July weekend results in disaster. Having no choice in the matter, the Mayor agrees to hire a contractor (Shaw) who proceeds with the Chief and Hooper to seek out and destroy the shark.
It is a very compelling, dramatic, suspenseful, and scary film. The film holds up well after forty five years. I was fortunate to attend a screening at a local art house theater five years ago on the fortieth anniversary of its release. A woman sitting next to me with her son left the theater because the film was too much for the kid.
A great film. Robert Shaw stands out as the best character who has a history with sharks. His speech recounting that history is superb acting and adds to the suspense and the terror that sharks can inflict on humans.
A cinematic masterpiece and the best summer movie ever.