I Am the Cheese

Actor Robert MacNaughton's follow-up to E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (he played Henry Thomas' and Drew Barrymore's older brother) was this haunting, deeply mysterious 1983 drama based on one of author Robert Cormier's (The Chocolate War) fine young adult novels. I Am the Cheese may well be one of the most unfortunate titles in both publishing and film history, but there's a point to it, just as there is an answer for every riddle that arises while watching this multilayered story about secrets and illusions. MacNaughton plays Adam, a young teenager who awakes early one day to embark on a lengthy mission to deliver a package (contents unknown) by bicycle to his hospitalized father. Traveling a seemingly endless rural road, Adam has a number of encounters with both good and bad people, and he frequently stops to call, with no success, someone named Amy by pay phone. The longer Adam's day goes on, the stranger the entire story seems, especially when you add apparent flashbacks in which we see him confronting his parents (Don Murray, Hope Lange) about their hidden past, and other sequences in which Adam appears to be confined to some kind of mental institution under the care of one Dr. Brint (Robert Wagner). What does it all mean? Well, that's what twist endings are for. Presented with an unremarkable DVD transfer and no extras, this is still highly recommended. (T. Keogh)