While my job in writing this column is to call 'em like I see 'em, I still try to see movies I think will be good. After all, even a critic prefers to spend two hours on a good movie, and I owe it to the people who graciously join me in my theater-going to try to skip the cinematic catastrophes. Unfortunately, I blew it this week, thanks to Steven Soderbergh's new lemon \Solaris.""
""Solaris,"" the second film adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's novel, stars George Clooney as Chris Kelvin, a psychiatrist who is sent to a space station near the strange space entity known as Solaris to investigate the mysterious occurrences in the lives of the crew. Kelvin arrives to find most of the crew dead or missing, with few answers to be had. He soon finds himself understanding the crew's predicament when he is visited by a haunting facsimile of his deceased wife. The movie follows Kelvin's struggles with the impossible situation, while at the same time flashing back to important moments in his relationship with his wife.
It's hard to initiate a conversation about the flaws in ""Solaris"" with one specific detail, because every aspect of the production seems to have holes in it. From the acting to the set design to the writing, there is no safe harbor analytically for ""Solaris."" The writing is the most important flaw, because it provides a shaky foundation for a movie with an already sketchy premise. The story is convoluted, over-ambitious and very superficial in its elements of spirituality, romance and eroticism.
At the same time, the acting performances provided by the small cast do little to elevate the movie out of mediocrity. Clooney is OK, but he doesn't really add anything to the character and overall was not really a good match to play Kelvin. Something about George Clooney playing a psychiatrist just doesn't fly. Nothing in his mannerisms is emotionally analytical like a psychiatrist, replacing it instead with the smooth confidence of a ladies' man, and he seems too emotionally insecure in his interactions with his wife.
Viola Davis (""Far From Heaven,"" ""Kate & Leopold"") is unconvincing as the highest ranking officer left in the space station, sharing equal blame with the poorly written lines for creating such a shallowly developed and melodramatic character. The one real bright spot in the cast is Natascha McElhone (""The Truman Show,"" ""Ronin"") in the role of Kelvin's wife. She enhances her character with her sympathetic interpretation of the script. But one noticeably strong performance isn't enough to overcome the fundamental flaws of the movie.
Steven Soderbergh has to shoulder most of the blame on this one. He wrote the spotty script for one thing, and every detail of the movie seems lacking. The sets are sterile and ugly in a generic Sci-Fi sort of way. The movie is scored awkwardly. Even the special effects depicting Solaris itself look like a barely updated version of something Star Trek might have done decades ago.
The movie does have its merits. Many of the flashback scenes with Clooney and McElhone are done in a very sweet and engaging way. Still, most of the movie seems to lack that extra honest, emotional and original something that makes it more compelling. This is even reflected in the especially intimate love scenes, which still are not particularly stimulating. All in all, ""Solaris"" fails to accomplish what it needs to accomplish. It never keeps the audience on the edge of its collective seat, and never draws a real emotional investment out of the audience. This leaves the movie more boring than anything.
I like George Clooney, and Steven Soderbergh has more than earned his keep, from ""Erin Brockovich"" to ""Sex, Lies and Videotape."" But they both really dropped the ball this time. Both have done better in the past and will do better in the future. In the meantime, don't even bother renting this one.
Stay tuned! Amos will still be In Theatres Now next semester!
