Home  |  Out & About  |  Dining  |  Events  |  Singles  |  Classifieds  |  Archive  |  Advertising

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW
By Rachel Deahl
Review Film Critic

Roland Emmerich is no stranger to the apocalypse. The Hollywood writer/director specializes in films about mass destruction - some of his past efforts have included forgettable films of mayhem like "Godzilla" and "Universal Soldier."  Of course Emmerich is best known for is his 1996 smash hit "Independence Day."

Released Fourth of July weekend in 1996, Emmerich's blockbuster pitted an unlikely theme - a quasi-successful attack on mankind by a horde of aliens - as fodder for a big budget action movie.  But with its "Top Gun"-like air battles and Schwarzenegger-ish one-liners (uttered by its star, Will Smith), "Independence Day" was your average blockbuster; the difference was that the happy ending came after three quarters of the globe had been zapped.

Emmerich is back again with a rousing tale of global annihilation but, surprisingly, this latest effort yields something fun, amusing and even a little intelligent.

In "The Day After Tomorrow," a scenario is played out in which the catastrophic effects of global warming cause the most horrifying snowstorm ever witnessed. As explained by the film's hero, climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), one possible result of global warming is that it wall cause a massive climate shift. With temperatures continually rising and polar ice caps melting, the Earth could suddenly undergo a cataclysmic weather change unlike anything seen for thousands of years: a second ice age.

When the unthinkable starts happening - snow in New Delhi; lethal hail storms in Hong Kong; violent tornadoes in Los Angeles -- Hall's academic theory is quickly proven to be a bleak reality and suddenly the world doesn't have a few centuries to fight the cold, it has a few days.

As the globe is summarily devoured by the shocking cold - people freeze the moment they go outside and massive flooding quickly turns to snow and ice - Jack attempts to trek from Washington, DC, to New York City to save his teenage son (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has holed himself in the New York Public Library with a small group of strangers.

Although "The Day After Tomorrow" has a simple, pointed moral, it is nonetheless a valuable one. If anything, it's refreshing to see a film that could actually shock people into awareness.
Of course putting aside the blunt moral stance of the movie, Emmerich's film wryly comments on the current White House administration and makes some amusing political jabs along the way.

The president is played as an ineffectual patsy who relies entirely on his VP for decisions. In one of the funnier moments in the film, the president gets word about the destruction in L.A. and immediately turns to his second-in-command and says, "What should we do?"

Emmerich also manages to turn apocalyptic matters into fodder for the most unexpected political scenarios - at one point Mexico closes its borders to stop American immigrants, trying to escape the lethal cold front descending from the north, from crossing its border and illegally entering the country.

Although "Day After Tomorrow" doesn't avoid the fantastic (Dennis Quaid's rugged scientist manages to brave the ghastly weather armed with little more than a yellow tent and a fancy parka), it's impressive and, at times beautiful, to watch. Emmerich fills the movie with memorable imagery - from a sky full of birds that fly overhead before the storm hits to visuals of the Manhattan skyline covered by a massive bed of snow. 

Of course the human dramas are what really carry us through the storm. More invigorating than the father-son tale is the love story that plays out between Gylenhaal, the real star of the film, and his high school crush who is thankfully trapped along with him.

Emmerich manages the slyest joke of all in creating a film about the apocalypse that doubles as the ultimate sweet high school fantasy: you're stuck inside with the cutest girl in school on the longest snow day ever.

Grade: A-

TROY

In "The Illiad" the hauntingly beautiful Helen is the spark that ignites the ten-year battle between the Trojans and the Greeks. As Christopher Marlowe later wrote, hers "was the face that launched a thousand ships." In Wolfgang Petersen's rendering of Homer's tale, Helen of Troy takes a backseat to Brad Pitt's Achilles. For his first major role since 2001's "Oceans Eleven," Pitt is put on display as a Hollywood icon, and sex symbol, which will presumably, launch a lot more than a thousand ticket sales.

As the indomitable and fiery warrior for the Greek army, Pitt sprints around in leathery armor and a short skirt slicing men's' heads off at will. In between his rages, both on the battlefield and with the power-hungry king of the Greek forces, Agamemnon (Brian Cox), Pitt is allowed to display his softer side, romancing the captured Trojan royal, Briseis (Rose Byrne).

But whether loving or fighting, Pitt is the overarching subject of Petersen's gaze. His is the stirring introduction in the film - he's pulled from a long night of partying and, presumably, lovemaking to do battle for the Greeks. And it's his name which closes the movie. As sexy as Pitt is - looking particularly good here, with his tanned body toned and perfectly tuned for either of the two activities he engages in - the effect of watching of a film more enamored with one of its actors than anything else becomes tiresome. In most ways "Troy" is less rewarding than the last film that took this route, "Legends of the Fall."

A snapshot of the lengthy war between the Trojans and Greeks, "Troy" is most interesting for its veiled references to the current skirmish in the global spotlight: the war in Iraq.

Although much of the dialog that happens in between the fighting seems convoluted and forced, the themes are nonetheless apropos. Odysseus (Sean Bean) summarizes it most poignantly when he says. "War is young men dying and old men talking." The sentiment is a rather bitter but pointed comment about our own battle waging in the Middle East.

Of course, like Odysseus' poetic summarization, much of the back and forth chatter about war and politics is just that: back and forth.

Achilles and Hector (Eric Bana), the two premiere soldiers on opposing sides of the fight, are constantly coming to terms with the difficulty of being in the trenches. For Achilles, fighting is about destiny and the possibility for immortality. Drawn to battle so that his name might enter the history books, Achilles looks at his calling with an insolent and nihilistic attitude; he recognizes his gift is killing but sees no real good use in it. Furthermore, he despises being the puppet of a fiendish king.

Hector, on the other hand, fights for his country and his people. As played by Bana, he is the more interesting hero of the two, and the more human. More than a blind patriot, and generally less angry, Hector is a man compelled to fight who would rather stay home.

Despite its stellar cast, which also includes Peter O'Toole, Orlando Bloom and Brendan Gleeson,

"Troy" is mired in repetition. Just as the fighting trades off between camps, so do the lines about the meaning of war. Less rousing and invigorating than the last good Roman epic we had, Gladiator, Troy leaves you wishing the Greeks had just stayed home.  

Grade: B-