with the release of gattaca , i began to wonder why all science fiction films deal with destructive aliens , or aliens in general . hollywood has given audiences plenty of thrills with those alien films , but what was usually lacking was a good story . . . and good characters . . . and good acting , etc ( contact being the exception ) . and for some reason , hollywood has never taken a look at the aliens here on earth . the closest , that i have seen anyway , was 2001 : a space odyssey , which made mankind an alien race themselves , being dwarfed by the technology which they created . now comes gattaca , another film about technology reigning supreme , except here on our planet . the difference between 2001 and this one is simple : gattaca is more frightening . most of the concepts of this movie are based on recent discoveries in genetic engineering . using this premise , writer/director andrew niccol creates some genuine suspense and thrills . unfortunately , due to a lack of advertising , i fear gattaca may fair horribly at the box office . since seeing the film , i have been asking people if they have seen gattaca . lately , however , i have been asking them if they have even heard of gattaca . most people don't even realize that it is a film . despite this fact , i surely hope that the audience members who have seen this film will tell their friends about it . niccol's film deserves more than what independence day made because it is smarter , better produced , and more realistic . gattaca begins in the 21st century . procreating is now done in a petri dish , and genetic engineering is the normal way of doing it . natural child birth is considered old-fashioned . we are introduced to jerome morrow ( ethan hawke ) , an employee of the gattaca space program . one of the directors of the program has been murdered , and the main suspect is one vincent freeman . the only problem is that jerome morrow is vincent freeman . vincent was born the natural way when his parents decided on bringing their first child into the world through love . however , after his birth , and through several genetic tests , doctors tell his parents that he will have a 99% chance of a weak heart , as well as poor eye sight and a short life span . as a result , both parents decide to bring their next baby into the world via genetics . anton ( loren dean ) is produced without flaws , and the competition between brothers spawns . vincent has a dream to fly a solo-flight around the titan , the 14th moon of saturn , but because of his condition , gattaca , and society in general , forces him to do menial labor around the company . labeled an " in-valid , " vincent's dream seems impossible , until he meets a black-market dna specialist , german ( tony shalhoub ) . german introduces him to a " valid " who has been paralized from the waste down due to an automobile accident . jerome morrow ( jude law ) agrees to give vincent all the proper identification tools ( urine , blood , skin and hair samples , etc . ) that he will need to get past gattaca's tight security . in exchange , vincent will provide jerome with the rent money and friendship . after the murder , however , his dreams are put at risk due to one of vincent's eyelashes left at the scene of the crime . irene cassini ( uma thurman ) is a genetically flawed " valid " working for gattaca , and she begins to fall in love with vincent/jerome . gattaca is one of the best science fiction films i have seen in a long time . only two other intelligent science fiction films have come out in the past two years ( contact and the arrival ) and gattaca will rank among them . unfortunately , whenever one intelligent film comes out against special effects-laden films , it normally gets buried . the second best thing about gattaca is the production design by jan roelfs . the orange glow of gattaca's scenes are impressive , but the sets deserve most of the credit . the sets are very well done , creating a futuristic sense , but not too futuristic as to alienate viewers . as we look at the designs , we realize that these buildings aren't too far into the future . this brings the plot even more credibility as genetic engineering becomes more possible by every passing day . the best thing , however , is the plot . the story is more than your average sci-fi/thriller . at its heart , it develops a theme which is never overpowering but is always present . perhaps niccol is warning our race about the changes genetic tampering could bring . would our society become a bunch of soulless zombies ? maybe human nature is a result of mankind's flaws . if we get rid of flaws , do we get rid of dreams as well ? niccol's intelligent script handles all these questions extremely well , and the result is an incredibly smart thriller set against a dramatic story , or vice versa . the power of the actors brings a lot of credibility to flat characters . while flat may sound like a poor job on niccol's part , it actually enhances the meaning behind the story . ethan hawke has developed into a handsome adult actor , giving his best performance of his lifetime so far . his curiosity and motivation pushes his character past all the discouraging remarks from his parents and " valid " peers . uma thurman is . . . well , uma thurman . her character is slightly underdeveloped , but the story isn't about her . however , thurman gives a lot of depth to the flat character . jude law gives the most complex performance of the film with the most disturbingly realistic character . he provides several nice touches , and his final scene is a very touching and heartwrenching one . loren dean gives a nice performance in his well-developed character . dean is also responsible for some of the most suspenseful scenes in the movie . alan arkin portrays one of the detectives with a little less more excitement than with his psychiatrist in grosse pointe blank . still , he does a good job . gore vidal and xander berkeley both provide some very good supporting roles , and berkeley also gives a heartfelt discussion towards the end of the film . gattaca is rated pg-13 for brief violent images , language , some sexuality , and nudity . despite the somber and desolate mood of the entire film , i wasn't exactly prepared for the ending which left me feeling empty . it turned me off slightly , but then i realized that everything turned out the way it should have . if this had been a typical hollywood film , it would have ended much differently . however , with all the mindless science fiction films out there , it is nice to have a film which doesn't talk down to its audience ( i especially like the ironic title and how it consists of the four letters which make up the genetic coding : g , t , c , and a ) . instead , it provides some much needed entertainment which gives us science fiction fanatics just what we want : a science fiction film with morals behind it . whatever happened to giving the audience a lesson while entertaining ? hopefully more writers and directors will learn from gattaca . . . and hopefully audiences will too . p . s . personal note to p . j . gladnick : how dare you call this film the worst film of the year . i can't even begin to image what film you do like . that frightens me beyond anything .
