Movie review: ‘Innerspace’

FloridaGator80
A promotional still photograph from the movie “Innerspace.”

Husband-and-wife films are popular with Hollywood. From classical power couples such as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and more contemporary ones such as Warren Beatty and Annette Benning to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, it’s been an almost sure-fire winner at least on the personal level for the actors and audiences. Well, at least for a few moments in their personal lives. Today I’m looking at “Innerspace” from 1987 and it starred Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan in a sci-fi/adventure romp that is rollicking fun, but not outstanding (they met on this film, married in 1991 and divorced a decade later). The energy between them in “Innerspace” is mostly by relay conversations with co-star Martin Short as the conduit. Check it out if you haven’t seen it in a while. It’s more than watchable.

‘Innerspace’
(1987; 120 minutes; rated PG; directed by Joe Dante and starring Dennis Quaid, Martin Short and Meg Ryan)

ZERO DEFECTS? WELL, THERE ARE SOME IN THIS FILM

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion and trivia and the updating of links on July 9, 2019. I again expanded it on April 1, 2022. I again expanded it on Feb. 19, 2026.)

It’s almost as if “Innerspace” is parallel films spliced together. In one, you have the boy-girl conflict spilling over to his job (in this case a sci-fi adventure). In the other, an excellent comedy from one of Hollywood’s under-appreciated comedians. Each is good in its own right, although the boy-girl thing finishes a bit behind the other because of just surprisingly adequate work by Meg Ryan.

The science-fiction component is interesting: Technology has shrunk an exploration craft (something akin to a small submarine) to be miniaturized and injected into a rabbit in its initial test. The craft’s pilot is a somewhat burned-out, out-of-control former military aviator (Dennis Quaid as “Lt. Tuck Pendleton”), who’s having big-time problems with his girlfriend (Ryan as “Lydia Maxwell”) – just as I’m having one trying to write a sentence without a hyphenated word or the use of parentheses.

In the parallel, once miniaturized, Quaid in his craft are injected into comedian Martin Short (playing “Jack Putter”) and Quaid begins the hilarious work of convincing him that the voice he hears inside is actually a man and not just him losing his sanity. It’s Short’s physical comedy that’s impressive here and I’ll get to his overall work later in the review. Director Joe Dante doesn’t do a perfect job, but it has to be difficult to balance such parallel tracks and make it acceptable.

The whole thing then gets involved in a chase as the good guys – boiled down to Quaid inside Short with Ryan tagging along – try to keep one step ahead of the bad guys – as well as some of their own people who aren’t exactly ethical. I’ll explain a bit more about the plot when I review the actors’ work, but you can be sure that everything works out well in the end and the good guys and girl live happily ever after – although the end left it open to a new adventure to come. Somewhat sadly, but mostly fortunate for what might have been, no sequel arrived.

Here’s a look at the headliners:

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Innerspace.”

    A two-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Quaid does a solid job as the fallen jet jockey, but it’s his voice that makes the character since he spends a lot of the film talking to Short without being seen. Quaid’s voice is perfect for the role: It has just the right amount of arrogance; it offers just the right about of friendliness; and it conveys just the right amount of intelligence. It turns out that he does more physical acting sitting in the craft than he does walking around in the film (even when he stands naked in a street as Ryan leaves). Quaid has just the right attitude as the disgruntled former aviator looking for a new thrill. I liked Quaid best as he sizzled as a New Orleans cop in “The Big Easy” (click here to read my review) with equally sizzling Ellen Barkin the year before “Innerspace” as well as nearly as good in “The Right Stuff” (click here to read my review). He did a solid job in the western “The Long Riders” (click here to read my review) and a wonderful job in the coming-of-age classic “Breaking Away” (click here to read my review). At the other end of the spectrum, he did the putrid remake of “Footloose.” His nominations came one each for TV and film with the small screen’s “The Special Relationship” and the big screen’s “Far From Heaven.” Along with accolades, Quaid collected two nominations for “Razzies” (worst in film) as the title character in the movie “Reagan.”

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Innerspace.”

    As I noted, three-time Golden Globe nominee (not for this one) Ryan doesn’t give her best performance here. Ryan’s good, but could have given an over-all better effort at all times. She forces her character too much, while others tries to show chemistry where none exists. Ryan was much better the next year in the excellent “The Presidio” with Mark Harmon (now that one had many sparks flying – click here to read my review). She did great work in one of my favorites: “You’ve Got Mail” (click here to read my review) and got one of her three nominations for it – although she was better in “The Presidio.” Her other two nominations were for “When Harry Met Sally …” and the classic romantic comedy “Sleepless in Seattle.”

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Innerspace.”

    By the ending credits, you’ll find that this was Short’s movie all along. A five-time Golden Globe nominee and two-time Primetime Emmy winner and an amazing 18-time nominee, Short’s simply terrific here as the high-strung, nerdy assistant manager at a supermarket. He pinballs from having bad dreams to pretty much being a hypochondriac and generally breaking down. Short does this truly well and you start to fidget when he does and you come to wait for him to be back on screen when the camera’s off him. The scene where he morphs back into himself after becoming a bad guy (don’t ask – the movie explains the sci-fic behind the facial change) is stunning and the film won an Oscar for its special visual effects. His Emmys are both writing awards for “SCTV” and his nominations include for a TV special with Steve Martin. Short has also been in Disney’s “Jungle 2 Jungle” and the little-remembered but excellent “Captain Ron” as a counterpart to Kurt Russell. He’s most recognized for his role as “Franck” in both “Father of the Bride” films (click here for my review of the original). Finally, even Short does steamy sex scenes on film … well, at least he did in “Cross My Heart” with Annette O’Toole. Eight of his Emmy nominations and all his Globe nominations have been for the series “Only Murders in the Building.”

As for the rest, the four primary bad guys do a good job both individually and collectively. Here’s a breakdown:

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Innerspace.”

    An Oscar nominee (not for this one), Kevin McCarthy plays “Victor Eugene Scrimshaw” and he likes things cold to go with his criminal inclinations. McCarthy is smooth here as the bad guy with sophistication. He was nominated for the 1951 big-screen version of “Death of a Salesman” and was also in both the original and remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (click here to read my review of the original) as well as doing an episode of “The Love Boat” (click here to read my look at that great kitschy TV series). He died of pneumonia in 2010 at the age of 96.

  • Fiona Lewis plays “Dr. Margaret Canker” and she’s the over-sexed criminal who’s always looking for some action. Lewis takes delight in the role and it shows – she does a good job in each scene and you look forward to seeing her again when she’s not on-screen. Lewis was also in “The Fury” with Kirk Douglas as well as being “Casino Girl” in 1967’s “Casino Royale” (the somewhat 007 flick with David Niven and Peter Sellers).
  • Vernon Wells plays “Mr. Igoe” and he’s the heavy handed (no pun intended; you’ll see when you watch the film) thug who is the muscle for the bad guys. He’s had an eclectic career from “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior” to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Commando” (click here to read my review) and even the John Hughes film “Weird Science” (click here to read my review).
  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Innerspace.”

    A Primetime Emmy nominee, Robert Picardo plays the technology thief known as “The Cowboy.” He’s over-the-top with his masochistic tendencies and his accent. He’s wonderfully loose in a tight role and makes the character an enjoyable one. Picardo has had an incredibly prolific career with having notched 240+ acting credits into the early 2020s. His career has spanned six decades since the first in 1976 and he’s been on TV’s “Star Trek: Voyager” TV series as well as the film “Star Trek: First Contact.” He was also in the original “Total Recall” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. His nomination came for tee-vee’s “The Wonder Years.”

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Innerspace.”

    A two-time Golden Globe nominee and veteran comedian, Henry Gibson (remember him from TV’s wacky “Laugh-In”?) plays Short’s boss “Mr. Wormwood.” He’s earnest and naïve and concerned about Short, but doesn’t really figure out what’s going on. He wasn’t meant to and does a decent job in a small role. Gibson, who died of cancer in 2009 at the age of 73, was also in “The Blues Brothers” and “The Wedding Crashers.”

Surprisingly, “Innerspace” was only 47th at the box office in 1987 with $25.8 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. Despite its Ryan-Quaid couple component – not married yet; but linked after his first divorce in 1983 –  “Innerspace” came in behind lackluster retread sequels “Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise” and “Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol.” The No. 1 film of the year was “3 Men and a Baby” with $167.7 million. Other films from that year that I have reviewed are:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Short’s middle name is Hayter; Ryan’s birth name is Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; Gibson’s birth name was James Bateman; and Lewis’ middle name is Maxine.
  • Despite his name, Short isn’t one of Hollywood’s micromen standing 5-foot-5 or less. He’s 5-foot-8, which is the same as co-star Ryan. BTW … he’s a native of Canada. Oh … and Gibson was 5-foot-4.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “William Schallert was cast as Jack’s doctor as an in-joke since he had played a doctor in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).”
  • “Innerspace” was Lewis’ last acting role until 2010, when she voiced a computer show in the UK called “The Wotwots.”
  • Another veteran TV actor appearing here is Orson Bean as “Lydia’s Editor.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t get a chance to elevate his character. Bean died at 91 in 2020 after being hit by a car in Venice, Calif.
  • Although he was the director, Dante got in front of the camera, too, as he was one of the company employees attacked when the bad guys break into the lab.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “The sound that the pod makes spinning in the centrifuge is the same sound that the Tasmanian Devil from ‘Looney Tunes’ makes when he is spinning. Joe Dante is a noted ‘Looney Tunes’ fan.”
  • Click here for IMDb.com’s surprisingly deep web page of trivia about “Innerspace” …

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