Close to perfect until the ending

Rating: Null/10 (3 August 2002)

I was definitely excited when this movie finally came out, and after I saw it, overall, I thought it was pretty good, except for the disappointing and pretty much downright silly ending. Anyway, the film focuses a lot on the life of former reverend Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), his two kids, and his brother Merrill - the gorgeously stunning Joaquin Phoenix. He is razor fine in this movie, if it was R-rated they could've put in a nude shot of his nice smooth rear end, but no such luck. The story shifts from the troubled life of the Hess family to mysterious crop circles appearing all over the world, and the possibility of an alien invasion. The director, I'm not even going to try to spell his name, does an excellent job of making this film suspenseful, as there are some sequences that will have you jumping out of your seat. It is also effective how the dangerous presence is not shown until the end of the film. In my opinion, this film would have been even better if the extra-terrestrials were not shown at all, kind of like a Rosemary's Baby-ish twist. To me, how the film ends is silly and sort of shatters the great build-up of fear and unease the film spent so much time concentrating on. Also, the film has some very sad moments involving Graham's late wife, which seem out of place. But still, this is nicely photographed, has, again, great suspense and pacing to help create an eerie mood, and the acting is very good by everyone in the cast. I don't want to give away much, it's just safe to mention that if you like suspenseful movies or if you are into The X-Files, you would definitely get a kick out of this.