Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: Radio astronomer hears weird sound and investigates, only to find a web of conspiracy.
Biased, pithy comments: I think the first rule of conspiracy movies is that one should never trust any character played by Ron Silver. He's always a bad guy, even when he's trying to act like a mild-manner bureaucrat. So, anyway, what about this movie? Well, for the first half hour, it's just like ``Contact,'' the vastly-superior movie about a radio astronomer who hears something weird. From there, however, it shoots off in another direction, with a sort of conventional alien-conspiracy plot. Although the movie is well done (and, as I've said before and I'll say again, I love Charlie Sheen in anything he's in), I felt like I had seen most of this film before on TV, as a sort of conglomeration of ``Earth, Final Conflict'' and ``The X-Files.'' Thus, it just isn't new or interesting, or even a new spin on something old, but something that might have come out of vintage Heinlein or (eew) L. Ron Hubbard. Do you like golden-age science fiction? Are you willing to tolerate conspiracies that use sloppy, inaccurate ways to kill people rather than just shooting them? If so, you're in luck. If not, skip and watch something more fun.
Other Notes: Good Lord, they've made a second part to this movie. Watch for it in your video stores! This movie got some pretty good reviews, but it was up against some intellectually unsatisfying movies---``Twister,'' ``Independence Day,'' and ``Dragonheart.''
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Lindsay Crouse, Charlie Sheen, Richard Schiff, Ron Silver, Teri Polo, Tony T. Johnson.
Directed by: David N. Twohy