No rules

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2005)

My wife and enjoyed the film. I didn't care so much about the EMP nits, but as we approach oil scarcity, I'm disturbed by the message that we must do ugly things to each other to survive. Ray isn't a bad guy, and he has his talents, but he survives by his ability to focus strictly on the survival of himself and his family. So he steals a car, probably the only working car in the vicinity, to escape. I might have done the same, but as they drove by all those people milling around their stopped cars, I was thinking, "At least tell them to take cover!"
I had read about the situation with Ogilvy, but my wife also had a bad feeling as soon as they ducked into the cellar. So we waited for the confrontation. Spielberg didn't let Ray kill Olgilvy in fury or the heat of immediate threat, but with a certain premeditation, as in, "This guy's gotta go before he does anything else to jeopardize my daughter." I suppose what bothers me is that people are already all too willing to lie, cheat and steal to prosper in a civilized situation. Aliens I can deal with, but it is truly scary to countenance a world with no rules at all.