Here on Earth (2000) 2 stars out of 4. Starrng Chris Klein, Leelee Sobieski, Josh Hartnett, Michael Rooker, Annette O'Toole, Annie Corley and Bruce Greenwood. Directed by Mark Piznarski
For young filmgoers - the audience for which it is targeted - "Here on Earth" may be a new experience.
These days, most relationship stories dealing with young men and women center around how quickly he (she) can connive to get her (him) into bed.
Not so with "Here on Earth." This is an old-fashioned love story. It's flawed, a bit saccharine and at times plays like a Hallmark movie of the week, but it just drips with sincerity and stars three very attractive young performers.
The three protagonists in "Here on Earth" are stock archetypes: The arrogant, snobbish, rich boy humanized by love; the young girl wiser than her years; and the best friend who's a bit rough around the edges but ultimately displays an understanding and kind heart.
That these characters are played by Chris Klein, Leelee Sobieski and Josh Hartnett make the clichés palatable.
The plot: Klein's Kelley Morse - rich, Boston-bred, private school educated - is put on probation and sentenced to spend the summer in small-town Putnam, Mass., helping to rebuild a diner that was destroyed because of a drag race in which he and townie Jasper Arnold (Hartnett) were the perpetrators.
Sobieski is Samantha. Of course, everyone calls her Sam, and she is Jasper's girl until ..
Aw, you can figure out the rest without me.
During the course of "Here on Earth's" approximate 105-minute running time we learn that Kelley's haughtiness hides a sensitive soul. How do we know? Because he can quote Robert Frost.
We also learn that Sam has a dark secret, and that Jasper's tough veneer also is a masquerade.
Prodded on by a sappy score by Andrea Morricone, son of legendary composer Ennio Morricone, "Here on Earth" leisurely flows from one scene to the next. The movie is slow, but never dull.
A fine supporting cast of adults, including Annie Corley, Michael Rooker, Annette O'Toole and Bruce Greenwood, keep the younger performers on their toes.
The trio of young people are well lit and perform admirably. Sobieski, especially, looks eerily like a young Helen Hunt, and her acting ability improves with each role.
Klein who was most enjoyable in "Election," here seems buffed and bronzed. He appears to strain trying to play the bad kid, but relaxes when his good qualities are allowed to break through.
Hartnett is touching in the `other guy' role and holds his own with his contemporaries.
"Here on Earth" is not a great movie, nor is it a bad one.
It's kind of refreshing to see a movie in which young people are not sex-crazed adolescents with only one thing on their minds.
Who knows. "Here on Earth" may ignite a romantic spark in you.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net
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