Out of this world

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Solaris
PG-13
Playing in area theaters
Three-and-a-half reels out of four

Most science-fiction movies ask you to leave your thinking cap at the door. Solaris, Steven Soderbergh’s remake of the Russian film of the same name, requires you to bring yours.

Soderbergh, whose last film Full Frontal left a lot of people cold, is back in top form with this cerebral, engaging winner. It also contains a gripping performance by George Clooney, who continues to prove he’s not just a pretty face.

The movie centers on the space station Prometheus, which is circling around the planet Solaris. When the crew cuts off all contact with Earth, psychologist Chris Kelvin (Clooney) is sent to investigate. What he finds is hard to swallow. The two remaining crew members are exhibiting signs of extreme stress and paranoia. It seems that something is on board masquerading as people (living and dead) from their pasts. When Kelvin starts getting visits from his dead wife (Natasha McElhone), he is torn between what he knows to be reality and his feeling that he may be getting a second chance.

The paradox of the best science fiction is that it is not about technology but rather man’s struggle to maintain his humanity despite our great advances. Such is the case with Solaris. Soderbergh, along with an excellent cast that also includes Jeremy Davies and Viola Davis, mines that humanity for everything it’s worth. The flashbacks involving Kelvin’s courtship with McElhone’s character are done with a certain élan that recall a sophisticated romantic comedy. Clooney and McElhone work well together and look as if they were made for each other. Clooney does a wonderful job as a man of science who must remember he’s just a man.

But Solaris is not primarily a love story. The romance is just one part of the whole picture. Solaris is also one of those sci-fi movies where none of the characters really knows who the enemy is or what the enemy wants. Or if it’s even the enemy. Soderbergh doesn’t cheat us there. He keeps the suspense going until the very end. Although the film uses very few special effects or scary monsters, it is often riveting.

Special mention should be made of Davies and Davis.

Davies gives one of those performances that teeters on the brink of overacting without going over the edge. I’m thinking computer nerd on crack. Davis, a veteran stage actress and Tony Award winner, is spellbinding as the one voice of reason on the ship. Or is she?

Solaris is proof positive on several points. We are not alone in the universe and maybe whatever’s out there is waiting until we’re ready to receive it. It’s also proof that the intelligent science-fiction movie is still alive and well.


Hannah and Her Sisters
Available now
PG-13

Looking for an alternative to football while you and your guests wait for the L-tryptophan to kick in? May I suggest a trip to the video store to rent Hannah and Her Sisters? Although it seems like an unorthodox choice, it begins and ends with Thanksgiving dinner. Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey and Dianne Wiest play New York sisters who meet once a week to discuss their lives. As far as Woody Allen movies about New York neurotics go, it’s one of his more life-affirming. Michael Caine and Wiest won supporting Oscars for their performances.