Lea Thompson makes people worth caring about before asking us to laugh at their circumstances. We rate her ability to give an improbable comedy a believable relationship, even when the jokes leave her doing most of the work.
Fi1m perspective
In Back to the Future (1985), Lorraine Baines has a life of her own, and Thompson makes sure we notice it. She could have settled for showing us the youthful beginnings of Marty's mother. Instead, she gives Lorraine enough independence that his discomfort is not the only thing worth watching. This is Thompson at her most persuasive: taking a character seriously while leaving room for the joke.
Robert Zemeckis gives her an exact comic plot to work within. Michael J. Fox makes Marty's discomfort funny without cruelty, while Crispin Glover's George risks becoming a collection of awkward habits. Thompson's changes of physicality between Lorraine's ages draw on her ballet training. Beside those more obviously awkward performances, she lets Lorraine behave as though her own life matters. We can laugh at the situation without feeling that Lorraine herself has been dismissed.
Howard the Duck (1986) leaves her with considerably more to do and much less help. As Beverly Switzler, she takes her unlikely companion seriously without pretending there is nothing odd about him. We warmed to their friendship because her affection briefly made the duck seem like someone whose company might be welcome. The costume remains awkward, the tone keeps changing, and the jokes too often expect his presence to be enough. Thompson gives a poor comedy a relationship that matters; she cannot make the rest of it funny.
The move to television suited the approachable performer evident in those films, with a sitcom lead in Caroline in the City (1995–1999). Switched at Birth (2011–2017), in which she played Kathryn Kennish, also made room for dramatic work. Her feature directing debut, The Year of Spectacular Men (2018), gave her a different way to work with actors. The care she brings to their performances gives us a reason to follow that work, too. For the clearest introduction, though, start with Back to the Future.
Biography
Lea Thompson is an American actress, singer, dancer and director. Born in Rochester, Minnesota, she trained as a ballet dancer with companies including the American Ballet Theatre before moving into acting in the early 1980s.
She is best known for her role as Lorraine Baines-McFly in the Back to the Future film trilogy (1985–1990). Other film credits include Howard the Duck (1986), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), All the Right Moves (1983) and Red Dawn (1984). On television she played the title character in the sitcom Caroline in the City (1995–1999) and Kathryn Kennish in Switched at Birth (2011–2017).
Thompson is married to director Howard Deutch.
