Day After Tomorrow

Rating:

Put It Off Until After Then…

Main Cast: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sela Ward, Ian Holm

Director: Roland Emmerich

There is something I love about disaster flicks. I don’t know, maybe it’s the clothesline of a plot, the cheesy, one-dimensional characters, the drama of ‘private lives’ of extras we *know* are going to get ghacked… but, of course, the special effects. They *have* to be good.

I am pleased to report that the special effects in ‘Day’ deliver. These are great: tornadoes rip through LA, destroy the Hollywood sign, and pick people and cars up and rip ’em apart. I especially liked seeing the newsfolk out in the storms, because we all know that’s exactly what would happen in real life. And I think the cutest moment in the film was when the US citizens had to flee south illegally across the Mexican border. Tit for tat, as it were.

I suppose I should mention the characters. There is Jack Hall (Quaid), a scientist who has predicted the new ice age but was laughed down until now, his son Sam (Gyllenhaal), stuck in New York most of the film trying to stay alive with his friends, and Jack’s wife Lucy (Ward), some type of doctor who also worries about her son but, since she is a woman, can’t go after him like the man does. She is stuck in the hospital with an extremely silly sub-plot involving a young kid and.. oh, forget it. It tries to evoke tears but is so cliched it produces laughs.

We run through the usual plots of people trying to survive after the disaster strikes, in this case a number of whopping big storms that bring down a mass freeze. Okay as these things go, and only a few situations that felt plot-induced. I must admit I enjoyed the time spent with Sam and his friends. His character felt real. Fortunately, the director seemed to sense that and spent most of the time with him. Quaid’s character was pretty much stuck in the ‘heroic scientist’ mode and didn’t have as many layers. The other supporting characters were as good as needed. The homeless man stands out among them as particularly good.

I must also end by noting this is a ‘message’ film: we must cut back on our love affair of fossil fuels, as they may lead us into another ice age. Actually, more pronounced: we still *are* in an ice age, albeit benign. In any case, the vice president bore a suspicious resemblance to our own, which I am sure was intentional. At least he stopped being a jerk at the end.

At the end of the day (or day after tomorrow), I can recommend this one with reservations. If you go to see some cool special effects you won’t be disappointed. Just don’t try to work out the plot too carefully, or look for deep characters.

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