For Norman and Ethel Thayer, this summer on golden pond is filled with conflict and resolution. When their daughter Chelsea arrives, the family is forced to renew the bonds of love and overcome the generational friction that has existed for years.
Can you just imagine how 15 year old Doug McKeon must have felt when he was cast in a movie with one Hepburn, two Fonda's and almost twenty Oscar nominations between them? Well nervous as he must have been, he acquits himself confidently as "Billy" arrives with his dad (Dabney Coleman) and his new girlfriend "Chelsea" (Jane Fonda) who just happens to be the daughter of the curmudgeonly old "Norman" (Henry Fonda) and wife "Ethel" (Katharine Hepburn) who have a summer home "on Golden Pond". It's clear that the relationship between father and daughter is bit strained, their vitriol is dished out with little love or affection. When "Chelsea" announces that she is to head to Europe with her beau and they want to leave the young lad behind for a month, "Ethel" likes the idea and so it's arranged. The teenager is initially a bit typically recalcitrant but after some butting of heads with "Norm" they find a common affection for chasing "Walter" out on the lake. From here on in, it's all a bit predictable but it's the chemistry between Fonda and Hepburn that shines here. Two old professionals imbuing their characters with a sort of charming crustiness that's embedded in a true love that they convey delicately and frequently quite sarcastically. The photography, indeed the whole location scenario, complements the simplicity of the story admirably and it's one of those films that reminds you of just what a real star was. It also introduces the slightly less decorous phrase "suck face"! The musical scoring is a bit soporific and plinky-plonky, but that's a nit-pick of a classy piece of cinema that even the most cynical would have to raise a smile at.