Good film but not as good as it could have been

Rating: 2/10 (1 July 2005)

This could have been a great movie but unfortunately it fell way short on so many levels . The special effects particularly the sound, were the movie's only saving graces. One major thing above all else ruined it for me. The irritating child played by the exceedingly precocious Dakota Fanning was a pain in the ass from the start and all throughout the movie. Before the movie had even reached its mid-point I started to wish the aliens would blast her to a painfully deserved oblivion and stop her incessant screaming, then we could concentrate on the movie itself. I know that Cruise was portrayed as a father that was trying to look after his family but in her case I wondered why.
I have also seen this 'child star' interviewed about the movie and she is just as annoying in real life. She is a child that has the glib starstruck attitude of a 60 year old, and trots out all the usual trite clichés such as ' It was wonderful working with Tom and being directed by David, I learnt so much to enhance my acting talents'.....pass the bucket I want to barf.
Oh by the way everything electrical was 'fried' by the lightning bolts but somehow a guy still managed to get his camcorder working. The ferry was fully operational, the TV truck had no problems, etc.
The ending was the worst. Had his wife and her family got an anti-alien force field around their house that prevented them from getting as much as ruffled hair. They all looked as though they had just finished a dinner party whilst the rest of the world was being devastated - pass the bucket again.