Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Steven Spielberg

Starring:  Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr

Roy Neary (Dreyfuss) is a working-class telephone lineman who one night encounters a UFO.  Since then, he is haunted by visions of a mountain.   He builds a sculpture of it first out of mashed potatoes and then later digs up half of his yard to construct a larger one in his living room.   His wife Ronnie (Garr) thinks he's mad, and who wouldn't?    Roy finds he is not alone.   Another woman named Jillian (Dillon) has also seen the bright lights of the UFO and soon her son is kidnapped by the aliens.   Why are these aliens here?  What do they want?   Roy and Jillian, as well as scientists and government officials who have been tracking strange happenings, will soon find out.   The bulk of Close Encounters of the Third Kind deals with the buildup to the moment where the aliens make contact and make their true intentions known.     Steven Spielberg, in his first film following the mammoth success of Jaws, ratchets up the suspense in a way that would've made Hitchcock proud, save for a few moments of slower pacing than we would like.

The aliens' visits are not a recent phenomenon.   A squadron of planes which vanished in 1945 show up unexpectedly thirty years later deposited in the desert.   French scientist Claude Lacombe (Truffaut) tracks these weird developments and soon discovers the aliens are communicating their destination on Earth through five musical notes.    The expected meeting place is Devil's Tower in Wyoming, which is the same mountain Roy envisioned after his close encounter.    The government concocts a story of gas poisoning causing evacuation of the area and allowing for no witnesses to the upcoming event.   Roy and Jillian do not buy this official version, and along with others who have seen the UFO's, trek to Wyoming to witness whatever will happen between the aliens and the earthlings.

Dreyfuss is very good here as an ordinary man trying to make sense of extraordinary events.   He is overtaken by his visions of Devil's Tower, and tries his best not to alarm his family, but soon he finds this isn't possible.   The performances are grounded.   The movie does not indulge in hysteria about the possible arrival of aliens to our planet, but a sense of awe, wonder, and of course fear.    Jillian and others whose loved ones were taken only want to see them again in one piece.   Close Encounters deals with the emotions which come with confirmation that there is life beyond Earth and soon they will be meeting us.    When we do finally see the aliens and their mother ship, there is a spectacular light and sound show leading up to the moment when the ship's doors open and the aliens make known their secrets.   It is an inspiring event worthy of the journey which came before it.