The eye candy is worth the price of admission

Rating: 7/10 (9 July 2005)

I liked this movie for two reasons: 1) The special effects were great. 2) The little girl played by Dakota Fanning really irritated me, which was by design.
I could go on a long diatribe but I don't pretend to be a movie critic. I like good stories, believable characters and good visuals. This is not an original story, so, for me, the movie rested upon the characters and visuals. It worked.
IMDb posting requires I add more words to my comment, so here goes.
The character played by Tom Cruise could have been played by anyone with some talent. It was obvious that Cruise was brought in for marquee attraction. His acting did nothing to propel the movie. He was Tom Cruise running from things, not Ray Ferrier, a divorced, hurt, loving father.
There was a "surprise" part by Tim Robbins, and I thought he did well, overshadowing Cruise in their scene.
If you follow cinematography, then you will *love* Janusz Kaminski's work. He is a master and I recommend seeing all his movies to understand his abilities and techniques. He makes Spielberg's work shine every time. There's one scene where Cruise, Fanning and Chatwin are in a mini-van and the shot takes about 3 or 4 minutes to complete as the camera revolves around the exterior of the van. Excellent stuff as it really helps build tension.
If eye candy is not your thing, I recommend waiting for the DVD release.