It's the third word in the title of "Earth to Echo" that is the operative one. Freshman director Dave Green's low-budget, high-upside film is nothing if not derivative, feeling at least vaguely like "E.T." meets '"Goonies" meets the iPhone generation.
But, then, there are worse movies to be compared to than those two modern classics, which will be the movies that spring to people's lips most when they find themselves describing Green's film.
That's not to say "Earth to Echo" is the equal of "E.T." or "Goonies," two of the most enjoyable -- and memorable -- kid adventures of the past few decades. (Let's go ahead and throw "Holes" and "Super 8" in there as well.) That's an unfair comparison for any film to live up to. But it is a ripping good bit of fun in its own right, the kind of feel-good, family-friendly adrenaline rush that the July 4th movie weekend was essentially made for.
That Green does it with a roster of unknown actors (although perfectly cast unknowns) gives it even that much more a feeling of something discovered.
That cast is built around three young actors -- Teo Halm, Brian "Astro" Bradley and Reese C. Hartwig -- who, for the movie's purposes are all in that staggeringly awkward and confusing 13- to 15-year-old age range. They're all relative newcomers to the craft, but each manages to imbue his character with a distinct personality.
"Munch" (played by Hartwig) is the overweight oddball who's just happy to have friends who get him. Alex (played by Halm) is the cool one with the charming smile and great hair -- but also a secret abandonment complex, owed to his life as a shuffled-around foster child. And Tuck (Bradley) is the energetic motormouth who, in addition to being the mastermind/chief instigator of most of the trio's adventures, is in a very real way the glue that holds the group together.
All three actors are committed to their respective roles, and all three bring a sense of effortlessness to their performances that makes it that much easier to believe that we're simply watching three friends hanging out together. (Four, if you count the late arrival of actress Ella Wahlestedt, who adds a much-needed shot of feminine wiliness to the proceedings.)
But in addition to boasting individual identities, they've also got a very real group dynamic that should feel familiar to anyone who has spent hours with his or her friends trying to figure out how to kill a summer afternoon.
They're a tight-knit trio, these three musketeers -- which makes it all the more heartbreaking to each that their neighborhood is about to be bulldozed to make way for a new freeway ("Goonies," anyone?). When we meet them, they have mere hours before they will all be forced to move. What's more, all three are bright enough to realize that relocating will also mean an end to what will go down as the golden days of their youth.
They're also, however, spirited enough to hatch a plan to maximize those last hours together, in the form of a covert foray into the nearby Nevada desert, under the cover of night no less, to investigate the source of a mysterious message picked up by their cell phones.
What they find there is an injured but friendly space alien who needs help getting home. Naturally, the boys decide to do whatever it takes to help -- but to do so they'll have to figure out how to avoid the menacing grown-ups who are also racing to track him down (a la "E.T.").
The ensuing adventure includes a fun sense of humor, built around the boys' playful jibes and tendency toward overexcitement. Also embedded in the story is an exploration of notions of home and friendship, which adds a just-satisfying-enough emotional component to Green's film.
More than anything, though, this is a movie that gets juice from its sense of wide-eyed adventure, the sort that inevitably evokes pangs of sepia-toned nostalgia for days of childhood gone by.
What's remarkable is that "Earth to Echo" -- produced by Disney, which decided to sell the distribution rights to Relativity Media -- does all that on a limited budget. That's the primary reason behind Green's decision to shoot the film as a "found-footage" movie (a la "Super 8"). That means we get lots of hand-held shots, lots of shaky-cam, lots of embracing of imperfection under the guise of realism. For those who tend to get motion sick in such films, it also means lots of looking away from the screen in critical moments.
But despite its adoption of that trendy (and more than a little tired) shooting style, there's an old-fashioned charm to "Earth to Echo."
It is, to put it succinctly, just plain fun, the kind of movie that echoes 1980s sci-fi adventures -- and which moms and dads and brothers and sisters will be able to enjoy together side by side.
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EARTH TO ECHO
3 stars, out of 5
Snapshot: A family-friendly sci-fi adventure about a trio of adolescent friends who -- hoping for one last adventure before they are all forced to move -- set out to help a stranded space alien find its way home.
What works: It's well-cast and well acted stuff, making for a fun, charmingly old-school romp.
What doesn't: Aside from the obvious debts owed to "E.T." and "Goonies," it employs the no-longer-original "found-footage" shooting style that has started to permeate the sci-fi and horror genres.
Cast: Teo Halm, Brian "Astro" Bradley, Reese C. Hartwig, Ella Wahlestedt. Director: Dave Green. Rating: PG, for some action and peril, and mild language. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. Where: Find New Orleans and Baton Rouge showtimes.
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