DEEP IMPACT (1998)
Starring: Téa Leoni (Jenny Lerner), Elijah Wood (Leo Biederman), Robert Duvall (Spurgeon "Fish" Tanner), Morgan Freeman (President Beck), Leelee Sobieski (Sarah Hotchner), Maximilian Schell (Jason Lerner), Vanessa Redgrave (Robin Lerner)
Directed by: Mimi Leder, Written by: Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin
Rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence and other intensity, strong langauge, and sexual references
Reviewed by Doug Skiles
Earthquakes, tidal waves, flaming debris, and all that jazz.
It's the stuff that disaster movies are made of. And DEEP IMPACT is clearly a disaster film.
As our story opens, Leo and Sarah unwittingly stumble upon a comet. They send the information off to a scientist, who is then (stupidly and predictably) killed before he can tell anyone that a flaming ball is headed for Earth. A year later, we find the government has gotten ahold of the records of the find somehow and knows of the impending disaster, but has yet to tell the world. Jenny Lerner, an aspiring reporter at CNBC (what's with aspiring reporters this summer?), unwittingly stumbles upon the government's plans to deal with the heavenly body heading our way, forcing President Beck to step up his announcement of the approaching comet. He makes the announcement, and then details his plan to stop it - they're sending a group of astronauts, led by moon landing veteran Spurgeon Tanner, up into space to land on the comet, plant nuclear bombs in it, and blow it to pieces. Before our story ends, we'll have to try this plan out, Jenny will have to reconcile with her father, Leo will get married to Sarah (apparently at age 14 or so... yeah, that's healthy), and basically, a lot of crazy crap will be goin' on.
DEEP IMPACT owes a lot to the Irwin Allen disaster films of yore, with their collection of characters all facing down personal trials in their lives at a time of crisis. And like many disaster films, some characters are engaging, others are inane. Leoni is questionable as Jenny Lerner. Sometimes, she's excellent. Sometimes, she's downright bad. And she bounces back and forth quite a bit. Her parents are stronger though. Redgrave is wonderful as always, but perhaps the best part of her family is Schell, who turns out a fantastic performance.
The film's weakest links go to Wood and Sobieski (who looks an awful lot like a little Helen Hunt, and even sounds like her in a few scenes). Elijah seems to be trying, but the horrible performance of his love interest, and their positively idiotic and laughable romance seriously hurts this movie. Their parents (such as the always-great Richard Schiff who plays Elijah Wood's father) are better, but do almost nothing.
Morgan Freeman conveys real emotion and power as the President. He is the kind of President that you would respect and listen to. A commanding presence, as always, even though his screen time is rather limited. He really should've been used and developed more.
The film's strongest aspect is the group of astronauts. All of their roles are well-acted, particuarly Robert Duvall's as the aging American icon. We truly care about them, and when they face danger, we're right there with 'em. They are the thread that holds this movie together. Still, one question sticks out - why is it that they are in their uniforms in some scenes, but fly through space wearing plain street clothes in others? Of course, that's a very minor gripe.
Oddly, James Cromwell makes a brief appearance as a senator. An actor of his superb skill should've had much more to do, especially since he's saddled with a bit of foolish dialogue in his minor role.
Mimi Leder's direction isn't as impressive as it looked back in THE PEACEMAKER (1997), her feature debut, but it's still quite good. James Horner delivers a great score, of course. The script, though, is fairly weak. The performances either let all the script's weaknesses shine through, or rise above them triumphantly, depending on which one of the film's plots are in question.
The astronauts' scenes and those belonging to Morgan Freeman, along with a few of Leoni's moments, are powerful and at times, touching. Some audience members broke down and cried at times, and that's understandable. On the flip side of the coin, Elijah Wood's subplot is, unfortunately, laughably bad, and at times, Téa has the same problem. The end note of the movie is a depressing one. There is an attempt at a final upbeat scene, but it falls flat after the numerous deaths that came before. Like last year's TITANIC (1997), this is film that can leave you disquieted by its tragedy, although TITANIC was the story of a real disaster, whereas this is clearly fictional. Both, though, can put you into the position of wondering what you would do in such a situation.
Still, Wood's plot and a number of Leoni moments really hurt the film, because they're the two plots that take up the most running time, unfortunately. In the end, because of that strong flaw, a film that is sometimes notably touching generates unintentional laughter. And when a climactic scene doesn't quite work, that's another problem. In the end, this is an above average disaster movie, but nothing fantastic overall. Be warned, there's only two action/special effects sequences in the film - the astronauts' visit to the comet and the title sequence, and, while both are nothing short of absolutely spectacular, summer action junkies would do better to check out GODZILLA (1998) for their adrenaline and CGI fix. DEEP IMPACT is more of a dramatic film than an action film. It poses interesting questions about how the planet's population would react to the impending end of the world, and then fails to answer them satisfactorily or very believably. Fans of disaster movies will enjoy it quite a bit. Fans of drama or action films, though, are likely to feel disappointed. Expect a disaster movie with more character development and less action, and you'll be alright.
Rating: **1/2
"Heroes die... but they are remembered." - President Beck
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