Corn Fiction

Rating: Null/10 (4 February 2003)

The Good news: Mel Gibsons shines like the true star he is. Mel Gibson can take any script, at all, even this one, and put that Gibson spin: the facial semi-comical expressions and the tension he can create changing from humorous to serious, or that thing he does so well: trying to be serious and being clumsy. Gibson gives a terrific professional performance, and he's fun to watch.
Joaquin Phoenix undid his 'heavy' performance as the evil Roman Emperor Commodus in Gladiator. He is convincingly a humble, do good, down home farm helper and younger brother to Gibson's character. What I liked the most is that he doesn't try to out-play Gibson.
Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin deserve honorable mention as Gibson's children and also fitting into their parts with Gibson and Phoenix.
The bad news: This is a hodge-podge meal of every invasion-of-earth-science-fiction with heavy late fifties, early sixties entree of cold war get-down-in-the-basement-here-comes-the-invasion stew, with a Steven King 'sauce' and a subplot side dish. And it's way overcooked.
The non-originality is so obvious at times, that you'll think that this 'thing' is a farce.
It's okay for family entertainment, but I must say that it's light years from being an out-of-this-world science fiction.