Shallow

Rating: Null/10 (10 December 1998)

I'm not going to go into how much of a bastardization of a novel this was. But it fails even as a movie in its own right. It's sort of like reading the first page of "Curious George learns about philosophy", then going around as if you're Kierkegaard. The movie does okay in some parts, like the receiving and deciphering of the message, which has excitement. But in others, particularly the ones where Matthew McConaughey is on-screen, it slumps into sentimental claptrap of the worst kind. Jodie Foster is a competent actress, and she does well in her role, but the other characters are cardboard cut-outs.
Bottom line, the movie wants to be a statement on God, man and science, but it fails to achieve even a fortune cookie level of insight.