Retro Film Review: Deep Impact (1998)

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(SPECIAL NOTE: Capsule version of the review is available here.)

Real life played cruel games with many Hollywood films on September 11th 2001, making them unrealistic, laughable or, in many cases, simply unbearable to watch, at least among people traumatised by that tragedy. One of those films was Deep Impact, 1998 disaster film directed by Mimi Leder. Its key scene - part of the film's trailers which were aired on television - strikes sinister resemblance to the aftermath of the real-life catastrophe. Because of that, Deep Impact was bound to become one of the more ignored and forgotten films of 1990s.

That is unfair, because Deep Impact was supposed to be more than that particular scene. Following 1997 "my volcano is bigger than yours" contest between rival Hollywood studios, renaissance of disaster films has produced another contest – this time between two studios producing films about huge celestial objects bound to hit Earth and extinguish all life. Deep Impact, one of the first projects of Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks SKG studio, was sent to American cinemas before Jerry Bruckheimmer's Armageddon and later made decent amount of money at the box-office.

The plot begins with Leo Beiderman (played by Elijah Wood), high school student and astronomy enthusiast who accidentally discovers new comet. A year later, Jenny Lerner (played by Tea Leoni), Washington-based MSNBC reporter, is intrigued by the mysterious resignation of Treasury secretary Alan Rittenhouse (played by James Cromwell). Thinking of possible sex scandal, she investigates and discovers terrible truth - the comet is about hit Earth and extinguish all life. US President Tom Beck (played by Morgan Freeman) breaks the news to the world, but also informs about joint Russo-American effort to prevent the catastrophe. Space ship "Messiah", commanded by retired astronaut Spurgeon Tanner (played by Robert Duvall), is launched and its crew would try to detonate nuclear bombs that would destroy the comet or alter its course. In the meantime, US government has built special underground shelters for one million selected individuals. The rest, including most of film's protagonists, are forced to reconcile with strong possibility that they are enjoying their last days.

The script by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin tries to repeat the winning formula of Titanic by combining disaster plot with teen romance. Problem with Deep Impact isn't in romantic subplot - characters of Leo and his girlfriend Sarah Hotchner (played by young, but very talented Leelee Sobieski) are much more convincing than Cameron's Jack and Rose - but in the fact that director Mimi Leder didn't have only one melodramatic subplot to contend with. Too much running time in Deep Impact is spent on subplot involving reporter and her family problems; this only shows how terribly miscast Tea Leoni was. Equally unneeded melodrama drowns potentially more action-oriented segments when Deep Impact starts to dwell too much on personal problems of astronauts. Finally, the special effects, which were supposed to be the main attraction of this film are disappointing; scenes of destruction occur only at the end of the film, last too briefly and aren't particularly convincing.

Even less convincing are some elements in the script which left many questions unanswered. Like any American film in 1990s, Deep Impact deals only with effects of impending disaster on American society; the rest of the world is ignored. In doing that, Leder and scriptwriters take over-optimistic approach - Americans are supposed to stoically await their imminent death only because President told them so. And in the last minutes before the disaster they suddenly panic only to allow Leder to have spectacular scenes of jammed highways. All that doesn't mean that Deep Impact is unwatchable. Leder had noble intentions of making more cerebral and serious asteroid film. She only had misfortune of being outclassed by Bruckheimmer's Armageddon in summer of 1998 and real life three years later.
RATING: 3/10 (+)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.film.reviews on February 2nd 2004)