Cloak & Dagger

Dabney Coleman's other mid-'80s film about a computer-obsessed kid getting involved with the US Defense Department may not be as significant and cleverly scripted as WarGames, but it's a solid kids' adventure picture that provided Coleman with a rare opportunity to play both innocent and lovable. Henry Thomas, two years post—E.T., plays 11-year-old Davey Osborne, a lonely kid with a deceased mom. He lives with his Air Force officer father (Coleman), who is too busy with work to spend much time with him. Davey fills most of his days by hanging out at the local video game store and going on make-believe adventures with his younger friend, Kim (Christina Nigra). Davey fancies himself a spy and brings along an imagined incarnation of Jack Flack, the hero of his favorite video game, Cloak & Dagger, to assist him on his missions. His vision of Jack Flack looks like a much cooler version of his pop, and Coleman plays the imaginary friend exactly as an 11-year-old would picture a slick adult super spy. It's great to see the great actor play a role so devoid of the trappings of middle-aged cynicism and curmudgeonly snark that typified his career. Coleman also plays the in-over-his-head single dad with genuine concern for his son's well-being and a sentimentality that never crosses into schmaltz.

An unusual combination of talents came together to make this unusual kids' movie. Cloak & Dagger is directed by Richard Franklin, the Aussie filmmaker behind Patrick, Roadgames, and Psycho II; produced by Allan Carr, the flamboyant talent manager turn producer of Grease, Can't Stop the Music, and Where the Boys Are '84 (not to mention the notorious 1989 Oscars with its lengthy opening production number featuring an unauthorized Snow White). The screenplay is by Tom Holland, the man who would go on to make Fright Night, Child's Play, and The Temp, and it's based on a novel by the preeminent crime writer Cornell Woolrich, author of The Bride Wore Black, Phantom Lady, The Black Angel, and many others. In addition to his roots in Aussie horror, Franklin was a protege of Alfred Hitchcock and is, therefore, a logical choice to helm this kind of "Hitch Jr." spy thriller. Thomas is a pint-sized Carry Grant with a bus pass who finds himself in a North-By-Northwest-style situation in which no one believes he's stumbled onto a real-world case of international espionage because everyone knows he's a kid with an overactive imagination. But when secret plans are hidden in a copy of the latest version of the Cloak & Dagger video game, real people start ending up dead.

This is a pure '80s movie in its offhanded depiction of murders, even though it is a movie for young kids. Thomas's Davey is even placed in the position of having to shoot the main villain at point-blank rage. But it is all handled cleverly, tying this difficult choice into the beats of the maturation plot, the tropes of which even little kids have a subconscious understanding. Michael Murphy plays the main baddy, and it is fun to see this actor, known for playing slick politicians and men of questionable character, get to be such an outright villain. TV Stalwarts John McIntire and Jeanette Nolan appear in terrific supporting roles, and Nigra is a lot of fun as Thomas' pint-sized side-kick. The 9-year-old actress is so obviously and painfully dubbed in her first scene I feared this would end up a The House by the Cemetery situation, in which a child actor is poorly dubbed by an older actress, but I think they probably just shot that first scene first, and Nigra's line readings were stiff so they brought her in to redub the scene at the end of the shoot after she'd gotten the hang of things. She becomes more and more naturalistic and funny over the course of the movie.

This is a film beloved by people my age who saw it as kids in the theater or over and over on HBO. There is even a very detailed fan theory that Edward Norton's character in Fight Club is actually the adult version of Henry Thomas' character in Cloak & Dagger. But since I never had HBO, I was almost totally unaware of this film, apart from its place in Dabney Coleman's filmography and the careers of Franklin and Holland. Watching it as part of my 1984 anniversary series the weekend after Coleman's passing, I was pleased to find it the type of kiddy movie that can still be enjoyed as an adult. It's a great '80s time capsule not only in terms of the technology and story-telling style but also in its accurate and compassionate depiction of how a somewhat neglected little kid without much parental supervision or a community of friends seeks solace in his own active imagination.