ARTSY 'SOLARIS' LOST IN SPACE.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic WILLFULLY willfully adv. referring to doing something intentionally, purposefully and stubbornly. Examples: "He drove the car willfully into the crowd on the sidewalk." "She willfully left the dangerous substances on the property." (See: willful) inscrutable in·scru·ta·ble adj. Difficult to fathom or understand; impenetrable. See Synonyms at mysterious. [Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin , Steven Soderbergh's ``Solaris'' intends to look at such big issues as love, redemption and the afterlife. But boil it down to its essentials and it seems to be about every man's romantically misguided belief that if he had a second chance, he could go back and somehow save that loopy ex-girlfriend from her unrelenting neuroses and take her to bed again and everything would be OK. That's how I read it. You may well have a different reaction. Judging from all the head scratching and verbal bursts of disgust heard after a recent screening of the film, it's safe to say that the most typical responses veer between apathy apathy /ap·a·thy/ (ap´ah-the) lack of feeling or emotion; indifference.apathet´ic ap·a·thy n. Lack of interest, concern, or emotion; indifference. and outright anger. This is a movie for those who found Soderbergh's ``Full Frontal'' too conventional and have been itching itching or pruritus Stimulation of nerve endings in the skin, usually incited by histamine, that evokes a desire to scratch. It is often transient and easily relieved. Pathological itching with skin changes usually signals dermatologic disease. for an art film that makes no apologies for being strictly (and clinically) cerebral. Soderbergh's movie is the second to tackle Stanislaw Lem's sci-fi novel, following in the footsteps of Andrei Tarkovsky's demanding and little-seen 1972 effort. The common thread among the novel and the two films is the basic plot of a psychologist venturing to a distant space station near the planet Solaris to find out why its crew has stopped communicating. Said psychologist, Chris Kelvin kelvin, abbr. K, official name in the International System of Units (SI) for the degree of temperature as measured on the Kelvin temperature scale. A unit of measurement of temperature. (George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (May 6, 1961) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter who gained fame as the lead doctor in the long-running television drama, ER in a casting stretch), has never recovered from the death of his wife (Natascha McElhone) and takes the assignment as another way to kill time and dull his grief. Once he arrives, Kelvin finds the space station nearly deserted. The commander has committed suicide. Two crew members remain. One, a scientist named Snow (Jeremy Davies Jeremy Davies may refer to:
In 2001, she was awarded the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of "Tonya" in King Hedley II ) brushes Kelvin off, saying, ``Until it starts happening to you, there's really no point in discussing it.'' One night in, it starts happening to Kelvin. He sleeps and dreams of the time he first met Rheya, the woman who was to become his wife. When Kelvin wakes up, Rheya, or something that looks just like her, is lying next to him, caressing him. What gives? Don't expect Soderbergh to connect the dots for you. And that's fine. A real artist (like, say, David Lynch) can take the indecipherable and make it both beautiful and profound. Judging, though, from ``Solaris'' and ``Full Frontal frontal /fron·tal/ (frun´t'l) 1. pertaining to the forehead. 2. denoting a longitudinal plane of the body. fron·tal adj. 1. ,'' Soderbergh seems capable only of delivering artfully lighted, earnest inquiries that lack the kind of genuine depth that would make them redeemable. What Soderbergh has added to his version of ``Solaris'' is scenes on Earth between Kelvin and Rheya that show the arc of their relationship, moving from initial bliss to horrific nightmare. Kelvin believes he blew it and now the all-knowing Solaris has given him another chance. But you have to wonder why the poor sap would want it. He sure seemed miserable once the bloom wore off. Better that he go back to Earth and find a nice girl that he could take home to mom. And better that Soderbergh let someone else write his next screenplay, or at least take a vacation. The stress from making movies seems to be getting to him. SOLARIS - Two and one half stars (PG-13: sexuality, nudity, brief language, thematic elements) Starring: George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis. Director: Written and directed by Steven Soderbergh. Running time: 1 hr. 38 min. Playing: Wide release. In a nutshell nut·shell n. The shell enclosing the meat of a nut. Idiom: in a nutshell In a few words; concisely: Just give me the facts in a nutshell. Adv. 1. : For those who thought ``Full Frontal'' was too conventional and have been itching for an art film that makes no apologies for being strictly cerebral. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Psychologist Chris Kelvin (George Clooney, right) thinks his dead wife (Natascha McElhone) has come back to life on a space station in ``Solaris.'' |
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