Ray (Cruise) is a working class New Jersey single dad whose ex (Otto) has just dropped off their two kids for the weekend: 10-year-old Rachel (Fanning) and sullen teen Robbie (Chatwin). Ray is, quite clearly, a terrible father, but he's about to test his mettle with the earth-rending invasion of an alien force that seems intent on wiping humanity off the face of the planet. Forget the world, can Ray save his children?

Spielberg's visual sensibilities are so finely tuned that he's able to keep us completely focussed on the characters while their world is being torn to shreds around them. Several sequences are astonishingly inventive, and the mind-bending effects almost always remain in the background while something meaningful happens between people who are trying to survive, often using the worst methods. And it's so riveting that we can even forgive glitches like a functional camcorder after all electrical objects have been rendered useless, a convenient news van, car-sized paths through the rubble. All of this and more signals the arrival of the Michael Bay mentality, hurling characters into random acts of selflessness, usually involving big guns and explosions.

In other words, it feels like two movies. Cruise is excellent in the first half, because he excels at playing jerks (see Collateral, Magnolia, Rain Man), but becomes grating as a leading man. And this script visibly bends to force him into hero mode. Fanning, meanwhile, delivers a solid performance that continually catches us off guard. And Chatwin nicely holds his own. Nobody else gets much of a chance (Robbins as a goofy-creepy gun nut; Freeman providing superb bookend voice-overs). Despite the script's appalling lapses, Spielberg masterfully crafts a film that's absolutely gripping. We can barely breathe for much of it. And when you're hyperventilating, it's kind of difficult to notice cliches creeping in.

themes, violence, suspense, language

27.Jun.05