Thoughtful, contemplative...and boring

Rating: 6/10 (15 November 2016)

Do you see the contemplative, deep-thinking looks on the faces of Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner in the publicity still pictures from the new Alien landing film ARRIVAL? Well, if you go to this film, get ready to see this look on these (and all actors) over and over and over again.
ARRIVAL has been called, by some, a "thinking person's" Science Fiction film. Be aware that this is code for "boring". There is precious little action punctuated by long passages of thinking and pondering.
ARRIVAL tells the tale of what happens once an Alien spacecraft arrives on this planet. Linguist Dr. Louise Banks (Adams) is brought in in an attempt to communicate with these Aliens. Can she correctly interpret the intentions of the Aliens - friendly or hostile - before someone can mis-interpret and start a war?
Adams has been getting Oscar buzz for this performance and I just don't see it. Her Dr. Banks is taciturn, thoughtful and contemplative - qualities that Adams is very good at representing on screen with a look on her face. This is good because Director Denis Villeneuve asks her to do this over and over again, in almost every scene. Adams is joined in contemplation by Jeremy Renner (as a Theoretical Physicist) and Forest Whitaker (as the Military man in charge). The three of them try to bring some life to the screen, but Director Villeneuve clearly wants us all to think about events in the film and come to our own conclusion. Normally, this is fine with me, but in this film, it just makes this 1 hour 54 min film seem much, much longer.
This film reminded me of riding a roller coaster - kind of. The part of the roller coaster when you are slowly climbing the hill to start the ride, but, when we reached the top, the ride ended. We were sent home to think about what it all means rather than enjoy the ride back down the hill.
Ultimately, this film was a real departure in Science Fiction and I applaud Villeneuve, Adams et. al for attempting it. I just wish the end result was worthy of all the "deep thoughts" that went into it.
6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)