Just okay--not the 'summer blockbuster' I expected

Rating: 6/10 (1 July 2005)

I was disappointed. Too much focus on Cruise's character's angst, not enough 'alien invasion'. I keep thinking that Spielberg had some message he wanted to convey with this, but it was lost on me because I wasn't looking for a 'message' movie about family values and the psychological effects of terrorism (post 9/11)--I went into this film expecting better than Independence Day, edge of my seat, adrenalin rush entertainment. It didn't deliver. All these reviews I read talked about what a great performance Tim Robbins did and how thought-provoking his character was. I didn't get that either. He was a wack job in a root cellar, inconsequential to the entire plot. I found myself looking at my watch an hour into this movie, wondering when it would be over. I observed about 15 people in the theater leaving at various times for bathroom runs (not a good sign). Pitiful attempt at polite applause by the theater patrons at the end. If this movie went head to head with Batman Begins for title of 'Best Movie of the Summer'--no contest--Batman would win, hands down.