Matinee (1993)

Description

John Goodman is at his uproarious best as the gregarious creator of sci-fi thrillers, circa 1962, who brings his unique brand of showmanship to the unsuspecting residents of Key West, Florida. Fifteen-year-old horror fan Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton) can't wait for the arrival of filmmaker Lawrence Woolsey (Goodman), who is in town to premiere his latest offering of atomic power gone berserk, "Mant." But the absurd vision of Woolsey's tale takes on a sudden urgency as the Cuban missle crisis places the real threat of atomic horror just 90 miles off the coast. With the help of Gene and his high school friends, along with Woolsey's leading lade, Ruth (Cathy Moriarty), the master showman gives Key West a premiere they'll never forget. The screen explodes in "Atomo-Vision," the theater rocks in spine-tingling "Rumble-Rama," and a local hood threatens to run off with Wolsey's profits. It all seems fitting in this entertaining tale of backyard bomb shelters, missile attack drills and an innocense clouded by the threat of nuclear destruction.