Beautiful images, but falls flat

Rating: 3/10 (12 October 2006)

The imagery in this movie is beautiful, the story catches at the heart strings... but somehow it just doesn't pull together at the end. Hugh Jackmann earns his keep with wonderful acting, and manages to cry without seeming insincere. By the end, however, all the religious imagery seems a little tacked on and forced.
We were lucky (?) enough to have Ari Handel (one of the writers) at our preview showing for an interview -- he destroyed the movie for everyone present when he was asked "What was the germ idea for the story?" He replied, "The first thing I remember about the story was thinking how cool it would be to cut from a Spanish conquistador to a guy floating in space." Way to devalue all of the deep messages about love and loss, guy!