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Ian Stanley reviews 
- Cert:
- Running time: 124 minutes
- Year: 2004
- Released: 27th May 2004
- Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1
- Rating: 6/10
Director:
- Roland Emmerich
Producers:
- Roland Emmerich and Mark Gordon
Screenplay:
- Roland Emmerich and Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Cast:
- Jack Hall: Dennis Quaid
Sam Hall: Jake Gyllenhaal
Laura Chapman: Emmy Rossum
Jason Evans: Dash Mihok
Tery Rapson: Ian Holm
Dr Lucy Hall: Sela Ward
Frank Harris: Jay O Sanders
Okay so what have we got here?
A shot of the Stars & Stripes within thirty seconds of the movie opening? – Check!
A stock group of multi-ethnic characters spanning the whole range of economic groups? – Check!
A cheap group of established, solid B-List character actors and up-and-coming talent? – Check!
Some form of ecological/extra-terrestrial threat that could possible wipe out humanity starting with America? – Check!
A noble U.S. President who makes a point of being the last-man-out of the White House? – Check!
A scientist who nobody in authority will listen to until its too late (must be estranged from family/significant other)? – Check!
Bingo We have ourselves this years disaster movie!
Dennis Quaid plays Jack Hall, a scientist who has become estranged from his family due to frequent absences because of work. He has a theory that unless World Powers dont start looking after the Earth then we are heading towards a possible sudden climate change, resulting in the start of another Ice Age. Asked when this is likely to happen, Hall answers that he doesnt know, but not in our lifetime.
Shortly after, freak weather starts occurring all around the Northern Hemisphere and it becomes apparent that Halls theory is correct, but the timescale he suggested was wildly out. It also looks as if the worst hit US area is going to be New York, and it just happens that his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), is currently there on a school trip. All this is discovered too late in the day to do anything about it, many people are going to die, but Jack must find a way to save as many as possible, including his son.
Anyone looking for an intelligent thesis on the effects of climate change should probably look elsewhere. This movie is only really interested in hitting every disaster movie cliché ever invented, and giving the audience a good time in the process. Its kind of embarrassing to admit this, …Tomorrow being from the man who shat Godzilla into the world, but it achieved its aims pretty well!
To borrow a phrase, The Day After Tomorrow is a film of two halves much the same as Emmerichs earlier work Independence Day, it shares a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses of that film. Its at its strongest in the first half, the build up to the disaster is quite tense and the major set-pieces are absolutely breath taking, Emmerich certainly hasnt lost his touch with destruction writ large. The budget is most certainly up there on the screen, the CGI laughs in the face of Van Helsing, although to be honest thats not exactly difficult.
The acting is pretty decent all round, dont get me wrong nobodys going to be taking any Oscars home from their work here, but then again nobody shames themselves either. Dennis Quaid has always been a solid character actor and good value for money, its just a shame hes never really made it to A-List status. Ian Holm actually manages to breathe some life into what is essentially a Brit stereotype (but more of that later). Jake Gyllenhaal continues to build on the goodwill he gained with Donnie Darko, and shows again why he one of the most charismatic up-and-coming young actors around today. Emmy Rossum, as the object of Gyllenhaals affections, also shows herself as one to keep an eye on in the future (in all senses of the term).
But, I said it was a film of two halves, and the second half is where all the flaws creep in. In the fast paced build-up to the main event the rather thinly sketched, stereotypical characters are not too much of a problem, however, afterwards they become a very big problem. Apart from Quaid, Rossum, Gyllenhaal and Holm, none of the actors are really given much scope to develop the roles outside of their stock beginnings. This might be a good thing though, as when they are fleshed out the result is usually less than good.
It seems Emmerich knows hes producing a cynical event movie and throws every cheap clichéd character into the mix in an effort to drum up some kind of audience empathy. He fails These calculated attempts, by Emmerich and co, to tug the heartstrings become laughable in their obviousness and only result in further alienating the audience. They scale from the lovable homeless guy with a cute dog, all the way down the manipulative scale, to the seriously sick bedridden kid with no parents! Since were talking about stereotypes here, I may as well mention that the British characters have an unhealthy obsession with Tea and Biscuits, once again showing Roland (The Patriot) Emmerich’s fine grasp of the English psyche.
Emmerich has said in an interview, “In many ways, the movies a testament to the people of New York, who survived September 11 and survive this.” So please be prepared to see character conflicts (both spoken and unspoken) resolved in the most saccharine way possible, even when it really hurts the movie. A genuinely sweet burgeoning romance between Gyllenhaal and Rossum quickly turns into a love triangle, but is then resolved in a wholly unsatisfactory way in order to make one of the participants more likeable. This detracts from the eventual outcome because the conflict is never really won, only by default. Theres another really manipulative scene when the plucky homeless guy shows the rich kid how to insulate himself with paper No, Im being too cynical here. Its not manipulative. Its beautiful. Wordless gratitude and newfound respect passes between them, years of conditioned mistrust due to different social and economic strata are cast aside in an instant, because we are all one after a disaster Eeeuuggghh!
Even though this film is little more than a cheap excuse to destroy stuff and a repository for every cliché and hackneyed plot device going, I still find it hard to dislike it. What youll get out of it depends on what youre expecting going in. If youre looking for a good time and an opportunity to shut off the old brain for a couple of hours then you should enjoy this film If youre looking for anything more challenging or worthy, then this will likely be the filmic equivalent of Water Torture, so, all I can say is caveat emptor.
Review copyright © Ian Stanley, 2004.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.