Technicalities be damned - this movie had heart.

Rating: 7/10 (6 June 2004)

The Day After Tomorrow is certainly the perfect example of fiction gone awry. It takes an implausible theory and puts it into practice, turning our relatively peaceful world, into an icy mass, nearly overnight. No catastrophic event, no comet crashing to the ground. It just happens. And it happens in a big way. A half dozen or more tornadoes in Los Angeles. Three super storms. Softball sized hail. Tidal waves and flooding of massive proportions. And the lifeless cold temperatures and transformation of everything into ice and death. And still meteorologists probably kept their jobs!
So here's where the story goes wrong: even in the greatest of fiction there has to be some believability in the audience's mind. The entire climatology plot, the catalyst to everything else in the movie, was not very believable. Further, the hospital and mother side story wasn't needed. But despite all of this, I still enjoyed this movie.
Why? Heart. You can't help but like a movie that has heart. The relationship between dad and son (played excellently by Quaid and Gyllenhaal respectively). The struggle to stay alive and to help one another. The Lewis and Clark spirit of adventure and endurance. These are the qualities that make the movie worth the watch. So much so that I almost forgot about the weather in the movie, and was able to focus rather on its inner story. All of the actors did a fine job rising to the occasion in this movie, and they, certainly above special effects or dramatic content, made the movie enjoyable.
I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone looking for that feel-good quality in a flick. If you're one to get too hung up on technicalities, then this movie isn't likely for you. But if you're one who looks for the meat and heart in a movie, then I'm betting, despite the many disbeliefs, you'll find some of what you are looking for here.