Orange County Register

REUNION: Richard Dreyfuss (left) and film producer Michael Phillips. Image by Adam Ottke, Chapman University

As much as I love the sci-fi classic “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” I’ve always been bothered that the film’s main character, Roy Neary (portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss) abandons his wife and kids about half way through the movie. It’s as though he simply forgets they exist.

This odd plot development was briefly the topic of conversation Monday night at Chapman University in Orange when Dreyfuss appeared at Marion Knott Studios to field questions about “Close Encounters” after the movie was screened for the public. An audience member asked Dreyfuss whether Neary’s behavior was, so to speak, out of character.

Michael Phillips, who produced the film, was seated next to Dreyfuss and took up the question first, saying that “it was weird” that director Steven Speilberg didn’t have Neary express his feelings about leaving his family behind to join the benevolent aliens. Dreyfuss disagreed, noting that, “I think it would be silly to have Teri (Terri Garr, who portrays Neary’s wife in the film) to pack a bag” and come along. “This guy was so obsessed” with finding out about the aliens.

Dreyfuss and Phillips also noted that the profound point of the film — that humans have nothing to fear from space aliens — overwhelmed such things as Neary’s behavior toward his family.

Hmm.

The two men also agreed that Columbia Pictures made a bad decision when it later released a “special edition” of the film that showed the inside of the alien space ship. The peek inside “hurt the film,” said Dreyfuss, whose opinion is shared by Spielberg. (The earlier version of the film was screened at Chapman.)

The evening was interesting for other reasons. Dreyfuss mocked the minimalist directing style of George Lucas, who directed him in “American Graffiti.” (It’s worth noting that Lucas got great performances out of Harrison Ford in the “Star Wars” films.) Dreyfuss didn’t take the bait when an audience member asked him about portraying “war criminal” Dick Cheney in Oliver Stone’s film, “W.” The actor talked about the joy in portraying complex people. And Dreyfuss turned things around again when a different audience member asked if  it was true that he and the late Robert Shaw didn’t get along while they were making “Jaws.” Dreyfuss talked about Shaw’s well-documented problems with alcoholism. But he also told a heartbreaking story about how Shaw sobered up and delivered the famous speech in which his character (Quint) recounts the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, a tale from World War II that is actually true.

I thought the Chapman audience was going to cry. The crowd in Folino Theater went absolutely silent.

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