Where is Everybody?

Rating: 6/10 (6 October 2008)

Never having read Richard Matheson's novel, I can't comment on how closely the movie follows the book. Certainly closer than an earlier transposition, "The Omega Man." A doctor seeking a cure for cancer winds up with one that kills everyone instead. A few million people are immune, as can be expected in a genetically diverse population. Most of them turn into fierce "dark seekers" who have lost all human impulses and only appear at night looking for real people to destroy. The monsters include dogs, but, for some reason, not lions or deer.
Will Smith is a doc who is left alone with his German shepherd, Sam, in Manhattan. He lives in an apartment and laboratory overlooking Washington Square and he's working on a cure for the "cure." Joined by Alce Braga and her son, who have heard his voice on AM radio, he finally discovers the antivenin and sacrifices his life so that Braga and son can escape to an upstate colony of normal survivors, bringing a vial of the serum with her.
It's a brutal, suspenseful, violent, and ultimately depressing movie despite the uplifting ending. All by itself, the thought of monsters hanging around The White Horse Tavern is heart breaking. But, man, these monsters are really something. Some of their humanity may have been lost along with their hair, but they zip around like nobody's business and can fling a grown man across a room with one hand. They make a lot of noise too. And they have no respect for furniture.
Alice Braga is a sympatico young woman who tends never to blink, but the movie belongs to Will Smith. It requires a strong performance and I'm not sure Smith is up to the job. He tries hard but the effort shows. And his appearance doesn't help -- those outlandish ears. He can be quite good in thrillers that have a comedic component, as in that one with Gene Hackman, "State Secret?" Something like that.
The monsters attack so relentlessly, so careless of their own welfare, that they butt their skulls against steel and bullet proof glass. They can be stopped by light, by bullets, or by fire, but apparently by nothing else. And it's no use talking to them either.
The most wrenching scene in the movie is not when the monsters are attacking but when Smith must strangle the infected Sam, the dog he loves and who has been his only companion and helpmate. The director wisely keeps the camera on Smith's face during this ordeal. In the first half of the film, Smith does a lot of talking to Sam and that's good because it allows for exposition. But it does raise questions. When is it alright for a grown man to talk to an animal when the two are otherwise alone? Okay, dogs, anytime. They understand simple commands. They really do. I tried it with a non-English speaking dog in Samoa, switching from English to Samoan, and in each language using a different tone of voice -- angry or friendly. The dog responded to Samoan, regardless of tone. In English, he hadn't a clue. It's kind of okay to talk to cats too. Talking to your plants is supposed to make them flourish but I doubt it. One night, making clam chowder, I found myself apologizing to each living bivalve as I dropped it into the boiling broth. That's when I decided I'd better get a dog.
Anyway, I was sorry to see Sam go, but I wasn't really sad when the movie ended. It's long, fast, and expensive, and a bit tiring. It keeps your interest, no doubt about it, and isn't lacking in intelligence. (The events of the past are revealed gradually in small increments.) But, all in all, not worth a second viewing.