Here's a couple of more spy reviews of DEEP IMPACT. This first one is what you should model your own spy reviews after. It doesn't give a whole lot away, but it informs both the average reader and the filmmaker what (in this person's opinion) is wrong and could be done to make a difference. Very good work. It points out why there was laughter at some places, what wasn't complete and what could be done to make it a better film. That's the purpose of a test screening. This is a great review. Read it, and remember the format, because you should model your reports after this one. If you don't have the script for the project, don't worry, just follow how he/she handled the film part. Great work agent Barnabee Bumblebee!!!
You said you like the WHY of a review, so I thought I would add my thoughts to the "Deep Impact" pile. Since I had read the script before I saw the rough cut, I thought I would tell you my reaction first to the script, then to the rough cut of the film, and then try to reconcile the two and offer suggestions for the final cut. (I hope this isn't too long, but I tried to be thorough and give you what you want!)
THE SCRIPT
When I read a copy of the shooting script last fall, I discovered there are actually three separate storylines:
* Elijah Wood is a high school student who discovers a comet that is going to hit the earth
* Tea Leoni is a reporter who uncovers what she thinks is a White House scandal, but turns out to be news of the comet
* Robert Duvall is a veteran astronaut who is sent (with others) to destroy the comet before it strikes earth
The script then follows the 'deep impact' that the impending destruction of the earth has on the lives of each of the main characters.
Tea Leoni's storyline was the best written. It was a bit of a thriller/mystery with a good deal of humor and political one-upsmanship among the reporters. The dialogue was punchy and tight, and Morgan Freeman's presidential speeches were a thrill to read. I was anxious to see the film for them alone.
Robert Duvall's storyline was somewhat average. My initial reaction to the description of the rescue mission was, "This is hokey dialogue, but maybe the effects and direction can make up for it."
Elijah Wood's storyline was a joke. It read like an afterthought, like they needed to have someone discover the comet, so they chose a kid to do it and that was going to be the end of him. But then they cast big name Elijah Wood, so they had to beef up the part somehow by throwing a few lines and plot points here and there. My first thought was, "If this is to be saved at all, it's going to take a lot of great acting and direction."
THE ROUGH CUT
Tea Leoni's storyline did not live up to its potential. Though Morgan Freeman as the President walked away with the film, Tea Leoni was its star and at times she failed to command the screen. Her on-camera presence as an anchorwoman was grating. Other veteran actors in her episode--Vanessa Redgrave, Maximillian Schell, James Cromwell--tended to upstage her. However, this plotline was still quite good, though not the thrill ride I expected from reading the script.
Robert Duvall's storyline was about the same as I expected from the script. Duvall shone as the good-old-boy veteran, but I felt little tension or excitement at the comet scenes at all. No doubt I was distracted because few of the effects were done, wires needed to be removed, and many scenes were played to a bluescreen. (In fact, most of the laughter heard by the audience at the screening was due to seeing the wires create the 'weighless' environment of space.) I'm certain that a good score and dazzling effects will make quite a difference.
Elijah Wood's storyline, unfortunately, was even worse on screen than in the script! Though he was supposed to save his girlfriend Leelee Sobieski from doom, I felt absolutely no affection between them at all. And reactions from both their parents (to say concerning what would be a major spoiler) were absolutely unrealisitc. Despite Wood's best efforts, this otherwise solid actor and his co-star were shackled by motivations that made no sense, so you couldn't relate to or develop an attachment to either character.
SUGGESTIONS FOR A FINAL CUT
Rob Reiner proved that a visionary director can take a ho-hum script like "The Body" and turn it into the masterpiece "Stand By Me". Not only *can* a director see through the words on the page into the potential of a script, he or she *should*. As it stands now, Leder failed to achieve any connection with the audience on an emotional level, and this was written as primarily an emotional film. It was to be at once a thriller, an action piece, and a love story, drawing forth the emotions of suspense, excitement, and romance. In my opinion, the rough cut that I saw failed to reach the potential in the script. Moriarty did an excellent job of showing the script's strong points and potential.
Does this mean that "Deep Impact" is a dismal failure? Not at all! The effects that were finished were fantastic (just watch the trailer to see what I mean.) Overall, the acting was great, particularly by Freeman, Duvall, and even Wood. And with a little tweaking, this can be an excellent film. Here are my suggestions for the final cut:
* Fix the continuity problems. At one point, Elijah Wood's character's name is spelled 'Biederman' on the back of a photo, yet it's spelled 'Beiderman' on a Newsweek magazine cover. There was a scene that was in the script that didn't make it on screen that explained how a information in an envelope that was lost in a car crash suddenly came to the attention of the President. (It was picked up by a highway cleaning crew.) Also, it's never shown what happens to the President when the comet hits. The audience has grown attached to this character; you can't leave them hanging without some type of explanation.
* Edit out the many cliche's. At one point, I almost felt like I was watching the final scenes of "Volcano". Good-byes that were supposed to be touching and elicit sniffles elicted guffaws from audience members. At one point, where Denise Crosby is crying, even I could not help myself but blurt out, "I never should have left 'Star Trek'!"
* Redub Tea Leoni's anchorwoman voice to make it sound more authoritative. If I were channel surfing and heard that monotone come across my TV I'd switch to the Home Shopping Network.
* Re-edit to tighten up the subplots with Tea Leoni's 'parents', Maximillian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave.
* Add some scenes of what it would be like to have your neighbor chosen to live and yet you weren't--anything to pull the audience into the story and put them on the earth not knowing whether they will live or die. James Cameron put us on the decks of the Titanic and ended up with the biggest blockbuster in history. There's something to be said for transporting the audience into a perilous situation.
* But most importantly, rewrite and reshoot most of Elijah Wood's storyline. This is clearly the weakest part of the film and has been from the script stage. At this point, some of the huge location scenes in Virginia simply cannot be reshot, but most of the rest of the scenes were done locally. We need to *see* the care and affection that grows between Leo (Wood) and Sarah (Sobieski). We need to *feel* the emotions these children are going through, being forced to grow up and act in ways beyond their years because of the possible destruction of the world. While a rewrite is badly needed, even a reshoot would help. Leder's camera needs to linger on close-ups of her two young actors, so we can see and feel the emotions between them. The first scene of the film contains some good flirtatious interplay between Wood and Sobieski, but it doesn't continue. It needs to build even more deeply from there. (Of course, the easiest way to handle the Elijah Wood storyline problem is to cut it out entirely. As long as he gets his residuals, I'm sure he won't mind!)
CONCLUSION
While the rough cut has its problems, keep in mind that it *is* a rough cut. The film I saw was a work in progress, and was still pretty good. With a little more polish, Morgan Freeman's words may very well turn out to be true: "There will be no 'Armageddon'."
Enjoy!, 'Barnabee Bumbleberry'
And now for super agent Harry Tasker. WARNING TONS OF SPOILERS!!!!
Okay, here is my review of Deep Impact, which I have tried to shorten as much as possible as I tend to drone on way too much most of the time. For I simply rewrite the whole story from beginning to end in my own words and I shouldn't do that as much as I do, so hopefully this one will be different. As truthfully I was somewhat surprised by this film, as I really did not know what to expect, which I think was a good thing. As I had no preconceived notions of how good or bad this film would be, as I truth be known all I really wanted to see was Armageddon and not Deep Impact! Though I must admit that I am glad I did see Deep Impact, as it did and said a lot of things (To me at least) that haven't been done, said or seen in a film in a long time...or at least not in an American film.
As this film, despite the fact that it was about the (possible) destruction , had a lot of really positive things to say as well as a lot of original things to say as well as show. Such as featuring Morgan Freeman as what I am guessing is the world's first black President ( he played President Tom Beck, and his skin color was never brought up in the film at all). A marriage between two 14 year old kids, and no, it's not as perverted as it sounded. Plus the death of pretty much the entire cast and despite all of this, it was still a film with a pretty positive message.
Which starts off with Elijah Wood playing Leo Biederman, an average 14 year old kid who inadvertantly discovers a monsterously huge comet/meteorite on a direct collision course with the Earth ( So they partially name it after him, what an honor. As he will have the same name as an stellar instrument of death and destruction!!). Which is essentially what sets the film in motion, as eager and young reporter Jenny Lerner, played by the wonderful and sexy Tea Leoni ( You have missed heaven if you never saw her on Fox's short lived Flying Blind a few years back!), discovers that the world is in imminent danger! Inadvertantly in a round about way while she is investigating a political story that she believes to be a secret Governmental cover up for a senator who had an affair with a woman named she believes is called ELLIE, though soon enough Leoni's character finds out that ELLIE is really E.L.E. Which stands for Extinction Level Event, much more than she ever wanted to know.
As things only get worse for everyone from this point on, as Leoni's discovery of the real truth only succeeds in encouraging the President to acknowledge the facts earlier than he would have liked to ( He was only going to go public just before the national budget did for the near year, as he would no longer be able to hide how much money the U.S. has been secretly spending). As it turns out the Government has been secretly preparing for this fact for a little more than a year now, in a joint venture with the Russian Government ( or what is left of it :). As their plan is to shuttle a team of experts via a shuttle and space station to the comet/meteorite, drill large holes into it, fill them with nuclear warheads and detonate the whole thing before it can reach the Earth. Which initially works, as Robert Duvall, Blair Underwood, that guy from ER who use to play the ambulance driver Shep, The low key guys from Swingers ( the one who had no luck with women) and two other random people, manage to reach the comet and plant their explosives (Blinding the ER guy in the process and completely losing the guy from Swingers in space, as he was blown into nearby orbit when part of the comet superheated...I have no idea, as it's movie physics?!). Successfully detonating them soon after, though without the desired effects. As they now have two large comets/meteors instead of one really large one...Both of which will hit the Earth in just the right spots to do the most damage ( One of them will hit somewhere of the coast ion the western hemisphere while the other one will strike land somewhere in Canada...Sorry Nanucks!). Luckily though, the crew of the shuttle decides to sacrifice themselves in a last ditch effort to save the Earth and succeeds in flying into the center of the largest comet fragment and detonating the remaining warheads they have in their possession.
Though not before plan B is put into motion, as all along the U.S. Government had some fears that the shuttle crew might not succeed in destroying the comet before it impacted with the Earth. So at the same time they were preparing their joint space shuttle mission with Russian, most of the world's Governments had been building and digging vast underground tunnels. Where roughly 1 million people will essentially wait it out, as it is estimated that the Earth will be completely uninhabitable for at least 2 years ( That is how long it will take it for all the dust and debries to settle and for the air to be breathable again after both impacts and the subsequent tidal wave of the one striking off the coast). Said lucky surviving people being chosen by the way of a national lottery, 800,000 civilians and roughly 250,000 soldiers, polititions, artists, Government workers, scientists, engineers and so on making up the rest of the selected few ( at least from the United States, as other countries were left to their own devices...Sorry Switzerland!).
Which is another source of great turmoil and high emotions in the film, as no one over 50 years old will be chosen for the lottery unless they have a necessary skill or ability that would qualify them for redemption as it were. As Leoni's character, having been preselected due to the fact that she found out about the comet first ( First person not in the know to find out that is) and got exclusive news right, knows that both her parents will die since they are over 50 years old ( her mother Vanessa Redgrave is losing it as her ex husband just married a woman barely two years older than Leoni's character). Plus Elijah's character is torn by the fact that his would be girlfriend's family wasn't preselected for the lottery as he was ( He was chosen since he initially discovered the comet and it is named after him), and will loose the love of his life ( Some touching an honest scenes between the two of them as they realize that time is of the essence and they do not have times for childish games, like courting and going through the rituals of dating to get to the real emotional nitty gritty). So as a result he marries his would be girlfriend (both sets of parents were Okay with this fact) in the hopes that this will allow her to stay with him and his family, as well as save her own family in return. Which only partially worked, as she would have been able to stay with Elijah and all the other preselected lottery winners, but her family couldn't. So Elijah's new wife opts to stay with her family and Elijah reluctantly goes with his parents to the underground shelter. Though eh naturally leaves and finds his wife, just moments before the remaining smaller comet/meteorite impacts off the coast somewhere in the western hemisphere or North America ( I may b e wrong about where it landed exactly, but it was close to Washington D.C. and Virginia)
So now as a result of the impact we have some of the best parts of the film, visually speaking, as it is always fascinating in a kind of perverse way to see the world and all it's mighty capitols and and landmarks get utterly destroyed with such apparent ease and grace. As monsterously huge Tidal wave fronts, hundred of miles high and long engulf everyone and everything they come into contact with. As the results of the first meteorite collision are finally manifested for all the world to see. So be on the look out for a lot of water damage scenes when the film is finally completed, as they were still pretty much in the digital mapping stages of the version we saw and so you couldn't get or feel the entire or desired effect these special effects were meant to have had. Though I did get a few shivers up and down my back when I watched the Tidal wave consume all in it's path, especially when it swallowed up Leoni and her Father...Who decided to spend their last few moments together instead of hiding away somewhere as most people did ( Leoni's character gave up her space to a coworker and her daughter, and decided to face death face to face as were with her father...one of the films greatest moments in my opinion, as I certainly wouldn't have done it, as I would have been trying to find a way to survive till the very last minute).
So while I have read that as lot of people didn't like this film, I really did for the most part, and so I'm guessing that maybe the people who had negative views really weren't coming from the right place or in the right frame of mind when they saw this film?! For as I said I hadn't seen or heard anything about the film beforehand and therefore I had no idea what to expect, so I could watch the film and enjoy it for what it for what it was...a pretty good film. A film that tried to do some unique and different things, and succeeded for the most part. As there were a lot of powerfully emotional scenes ( Leoni and her father saying their final goodbyes and making peace at last as they had been fighting throughout the film over his neglect and abandoning her Mother for a younger woman) as well as some great dialog ( the President's apology speech after the initial attempt to destroy the comet failed) and some fantastic visuals ( The tidal waves crashing upon all the cities within 700 miles of Washington D.C.). Either way I feel that the film is definitely worth taking a look at, especially if it turns out that it is the better of the two comet films. As I haven't seen a screening of Armageddon yet, though I am pretty sure I will as they just started screening it...So who knows, maybe I will have to come back and say that this film sucked in comparison, I just hope that I don't.
