The Day After Tomorrow Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)May 29th, 2004
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW
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After watching the Larsen B ice shelf break away into the ocean in Antarctica, climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid, "The Alamo") begins to warn of a potential dramatic climate shift which could result in a new Ice Age. When his theory is verified by Professor Terry Rapson (Ian Holm, "Lord of the Rings: Return of the Kings") of Scotland's Hedland Center, it is already too late and the world must prepare for massive storms that will change the face of the earth "The Day After Tomorrow."
Writer (with Jeffrey Nachmanoff)/director Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day") is back to destroying landmarks (this time the Hollywood sign and the Capitol Records building) in a 'green' plea to stop abusing Mother Nature. Emmerich builds his global disaster invigoratingly and the special effects team are to be commended, but the screenplay is a holey assemblage of cliche and borrowings. Still, "The Day After Tomorrow" works as relatively mindless popcorn entertainment.
The three member Hall family is suffering the classic strain of a father immersed in his work. High school senior Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal, "Moonlight Mile") reconnects with dad on the way to the airport to travel to New York City for an academic competition. As dad tries to convince Vice President Becker (Kenneth Welsh, "Miracle") that he has a potential disaster on his hands, Sam suffers severe turbulence in the air, Tokyo is hit with hail the size of grapefruits and a record shattering hurricane hits Hawaii. Mom, Dr. Lucy Hall (Sela Ward, "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights"), tends to a cancer-stricken little boy, seemingly her only patient.
Working with the doomed Scottish weather experts (the trio, which also includes Simon (Adrian Lester, "Love's Labour's Lost") and Dennis (Richard McMillan), are reminiscent of the Australian satellite guys of "The Dish"), Jack works out a model that predicts the Northern Hemisphere will be encased in ice within 48 hours. After getting the President to agree to evacuate Southern states, Jack, along with his team of Frank (Jay O. Sanders, "Along Came a Spider") and Jason (Dash Mihok, "Connie and Carla"), decides to head to New York to save his son. Sam is holed up in the NYC Public Library with a small group who listened to his passed-on advice to stay inside while most New Yorkers attempt to flee.
Emmerich knows how to deliver scenes of mass destruction and his leveling of L.A. by tornados is impressive, just as a more intimate scene of three helicopters plummeting with frozen fuel lines on their way to rescue the Queen from Balmoral Castle is affecting. The space station is featured for a real bird's eye view of the global weather system. Manhattan's massive flooding is also visually spectacular, but once the snow begins to fall, one can't but help recall "A.I.," not to mention "Planet of the Apes'" first submersion of the Statue of Liberty. Sam's dramatic phone call from a pay phone on the ground floor of the library also plays like a repeat of multiple scenes from "Titanic."
Once the weather pyrotechnics have had their crescendo "The Day After Tomorrow" loses a lot of its punch. This is mostly due to flimsy writing. Sam's love interest Laura (Emmy Rossum, "Mystic River") hides an injury for no apparent reason other than to become ill enough to require Sam to leave safety to procure penicillin. A Russian tanker floats down a Manhattan street - quite logistically impossible - just as it makes no sense that it has become a ghost ship. A pack of wolves escape a zoo in order to be in the right place to attack the few humans who have ventured outside. Typically, the team on a rescue mission loses one in saving another (and Jack's journey, on foot from Phillie to NYC, is just too fantastic). An attempt to use the burning of books as a sign of the end of civilization is clumsily handled. The Vice President is a heedless man who is humbled into giving a really cloying televised speech, which, unfortunately, is Emmerich's idea of a sendoff.
The cast are mostly overshadowed by the special effects with none of the stars making much of an impression. Gyllenhaal does a nice job portraying the awkwardness of unspoken attraction, but the real grace notes come from supporting players like Glenn Plummer ("Showgirls"), whose homeless Luther has more smarts than most and Mimi Kuzyk ("The Human Stain") who portrays a likable Secretary of State. The Scottish trio conjure up a melancholy camaraderie that make us rue their fate.
According to the press notes, the Larsen B ice shelf really did plummet into the sea back in March 2002, months after Emmerich had written the scene. Let's hope this is no "The China Syndrome."
B-
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