Blast from the Past

What if Cold War fallout had frozen humankind's development, or plunged it back into the Dark Ages? Actually, the bomb only drops for one Californian family, inventor and borderline paranoiac Calvin (Walken) and his pregnant wife Helen (Spacek), whose 'prayerful watch and wait stance' during the Cuban Missile Crisis - plus a plane falling on their house - necessitates withdrawal to their radiation shelter for a 35-year stretch. When the bunker's time locks open, '90s LA looks post-apocalyptic, but armed with some valuable baseball cards, son Adam (Fraser) ventures forth in search of supplies and a mate, finding an Eve (Silverstone) rather more knowing than himself. The story is humdrum and lackadaisical, the sociology merely decorative and witlessly conservative. Director Wilson takes credit for The First Wives Club and Police Academy, but this one has its redeeming qualities. The broad obvious jokes are generally tossed away with a panache that might be mistaken for subtlety; the performances are affable (good to see Walken for once comically underplaying - okay, coasting, but nicely); and there's even the odd surprise along the way.