Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Something's really, really wrong with the teachers at an Ohio high school, and a mismatched set of spunky teens are going to figure it out.
Biased, pithy comments: Robert Rodriguez is one of my passions. I love his work---he could be making a corporate video about mission statement writing and I'd still want to see it. Kevin Williamson, the writer of ``Scream'' who penned this script is, well, not quite as much of a draw. This film demonstrates that Rodriguez can still direct---he draws out excellent performances from some unknowns and nearly-unknowns and keeps the pacing going. He also slyly comments on the futility of low-budget American high schools---looks into bathrooms with peeling paint and shoddy fixtures, alcoholic teachers, and other horrors above and beyond the squishy aliens sucking people's brains out. Or whatever they're doing. The script examines an interesting hypothesis about how something as batty as an alien invasion could be happening with so little comment, and indeed it's worth a snort and a raised eyebrow. But for me, the best moments were pure diretoral exuberance---the growling guitar soundtrack rumbling over the over-violent football game with fireworks shooting up in the end zones, the opening shots introducing us to the characters, and even just Robert Patrick standing, menacingly, under a dozen sprinklers. So, in summary, this movie is a Williamson-standard conglomeration of scenes from other horror movies, but with a solid director at the helm it makes for a good ride. Your mileage may vary.
Other Notes: The movie encourages drug use, at some level---scenes of high schools demanding that others snort a white powdery substance to become part of the non-conformists just isn't ``Just Say No.'' If you watch this with your kids, watch out. And that mousy English teacher is actually Xenia Onatopp from ``Goldeneye.''
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Elijah Wood, Piper Laurie, Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Harnett, Jordana Brewster, Usher Raymond, and Jon Stewart.
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez