If there's intelligent life out there, please save us from movies like this

Rating: 7/10 (4 April 1999)

A friend of mine said that Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich weren't trying to make a demographic movie, but were honestly trying to make the type of movie that would entertain them, a la Spielberg. That may be true (in fact, I'm inclined to believe it is), but you also need talent, and they fall short there. The first half hour of the movie has problems which re-occur throughout(like Randy Quaid; never is he more annoying or condescending than when he's playing crazy types), but grabs us at least, and I can't deny the visceral effectiveness of watching the White House being blown up. But then the story becomes cliche city. The only actors who survive are Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, because they at least are entertaining. Some do solid work (Harry Connick Jr., Robert Loggia), some are wasted (Mary McDonnell, Bill Pullman), and some are awful (Quaid, James Rebhorn), and the movie is similarly patchwork. This movie does not represent the end of civilization as we know it, but it's a sad state of affairs when this is the norm and not the exception.