Deep Impact
Directed by Mimi Leder
Written by a group of people who I can’t remember (my apologies)!
Starring Tea Leoni, Elijia Wood, Robert Duvall, and Morgan Freeman
I was always kind of ho-hum about this movie. I wasn’t too eager to see it, but then, I didn’t object to seeing it. So, when visiting my grandparents in Red Deer and getting kind of bored, I wasn’t too objectionable when my sister said “Let’s go see it!” So, I went and saw it.
This is generally how the plot goes. A comet is sighted heading towards earth, threatening to wipe out all life as we know it. There are 3 stories: the personal struggles of Tea Leoni, the reporter who revealed the comet to the world; the personal struggles of Elijia Wood, the boy genius who discovered the comet, and the personal struggles of Robert Duvall, the head astronaut leading the mission to try and stop the comet. Morgan Freeman is the President of the USA, in charge of everything. And I emphasize personal struggles. This is not a sci-fi/action fest like I was hoping for. This was very much a drama. And not a very good drama.
I’m not sure how to describe it. Just watching the characters on screen going through their personal struggles, I felt as though something were missing. We know these are all good actors. But, something just wasn’t there. It rang hollow, so to speak. Someone described it as “a warmed over TV movie,” and that’s about how I feel about it. But, when the comet hits (yes, it does hit, sorry if I spoiled the end), there are fabulous special effects. When the mission to stop the comet actually lands on the comet, it’s just spectacular. All in all, it was good, but it could have been great.