‘Super 8’ thrills

In theaters Friday: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Winnie the Pooh

New on DVD/Blu-ray: Insidious, The Lincoln Lawyer

If you recall last week, I was taking aim at Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere, but as I mentioned, there was one very bright spot in that film. Her name is Elle Fanning. After tiny roles in Reservation Road and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, this preternaturally gifted 13-year-old sister of actress Dakota Fanning has blossomed into a tour de force performer in the past year. If you haven’t yet seen Super 8—director J.J. Abram’s love-letter to Steven Spielberg’s early coming-of-age Amblin Entertainment films like E.T. and Empire of the Sun—do so to see Fanning’s heart-tugging anchor of a performance.

Early on, there is a remarkable scene set at a rundown railway stop. The story’s beleaguered young filmmaker calls action, and Fanning’s character Alice turns suddenly from a car stealing rebel to a devastatingly convincing actress with her emotions laid bare before a group of stunned young boys cobbling together their own zombie movie, a trivial, if frightfully fun, summer endeavor given a sense of depth and determination only by her involvement.

The setting is small-town Ohio in the late 1970s, and just after Alice turns in her tear-rendered first scene, a horrific train crash sends these six young friends scrambling for their lives. But if this mysterious derailment was odd, it is nothing compared to the strange happenings that beset their once quietly idyllic home. As the U.S. Air Force descends to clean up the wreckage, the town’s dogs flee, unexplained power outages occur, and appliances and car engines go missing at a rapid clip. Then, it attacks.

Something alive and definitely alien was let loose when the cargo train went off the rails—something dangerous, and this small band of filmmakers has the footage to prove it. But what are the Air Force’s intentions for the creature, and will this small town survive the wrath of an alien and a military occupation? This is just the flashier sci-fi half of a delicate coming-of-age story that is grounded more in a relatable family drama about love and forgiveness, belonging and acceptance. Our 11-year-old protagonist is Joe, played Charlie Brown-esque by Joel Courtney, and the film wisely centers on Joe’s budding friendship with Alice and his deteriorating relationship with his father, the local police deputy who finds himself out of his depth raising a son after the accidental death of his wife.

Evocative of a time that most in their 30s and 40s will happily recall—a youthful, now bygone era, filled not with video games and iPhones, but with bicycles and outdoor adventures, walkie-talkies and firecrackers—Super 8 runs the gamut of emotions. These young kids banter humorously, argue with passion and scream at the top of their lungs. Though Abrams tends to ask more questions than he’s able to answer, Super 8’s narrative, particularly in the second half, becomes far less about facts and figures or the true nature of the alien, and more about the journey of Joe’s once-hardened heart, the journey of growing up.