“Deep Impact” begins with the obligatory openingpre-catastrophe, in this case a runaway semi that mows down a Jeep and killsthe astronomer who is bringing news of the approaching comet. I always think it's more interesting if they know from the start thatthere's a big problem I get tired of scenes in which they live blissfullyunaware of the catastrophe unfolding beneath their feet, or above their heads,or wherever. What's the formula?Assorted archetypal characters are introduced, they're assigned personalproblems, and the story cuts between them as the moment of disaster growscloser. Meanwhile, youcan enjoy the way they create little flashes of wit in the dialogue, whichenlivens what is, after all, a formula disaster movie. In the final analysis, the movie is an emotionally and morally compelling disaster flick that pays special tribute to traditional family relationships and heroic self-sacrifice.How do they do this? I would not dream of revealing theirinspiration, although you may be able to figure it out yourself. Thankfully, the movie recovers from these moral problems in its dramatic second half. 13: “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” At this point, DEEP IMPACT should have quoted a verse from the first half of 1 Cor. “Famous people always get sex,” the boy tells Leo and the rest of the assembly. With obvious delight, the boy says, now that Leo is famous for helping discover the comet, he can expect to get lots and lots of sex. What these viewers won’t like, however, are the overt obscenities and profanities in the movie and a comment by a flippant teenager in a government school assembly for Leo. Many viewers who support traditional family values also will like the President’s reference to God answering people’s prayer and the final scenes between the surviving astronauts and their families. Leder and Rosenbloom also worked together on Leder’s first film, THE PEACEMAKER. ![]() Jenny’s final scene with her father deserves special mention because of the haunting, unforgettable way in which director Mimi Leder and editor David Rosenbloom shoot and edit it. It does this despite some brief feminist images of TV reporter Jenny’s female mentor using day care for her child. ![]() All this comes to a stunning, heartfelt climax as the effort to stop the comet appears to fail.ĭEEP IMPACT is a celebration of the traditional ties that bind families together. The astronauts are led by two pilots, played by Ron Eldard and crusty veteran actor Robert Duvall. The movie continues its family theme by including several touching scenes and several references about the astronauts’ families. Regrettably, a mix-up leaves the girlfriend and her family behind, and Leo must return to save his young bride from a horrifying tidal wave. 13 of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul’s famous passage on God’s definition of true love. During the ceremony, the pastor quotes the latter part of 1 Cor. With his parents’ consent, he marries the girl, played by Leelee Sobieski, so that both families can go. His girlfriend’s family has not been chosen, however. Meanwhile, the government lottery has chosen Leo Biederman, the young teenager played by Elijah Wood who unwittingly helped discover the comet, to take his family to the big shelter. ![]() She rebuffs his attempts to reconcile with her. Jenny is still angry with her father, played by long-time Austrian star Maximilian Schell. No one questions this decision about the lottery, even though it seems to epitomize the arbitrary, authoritarian nature of the huge nation-state that the atheistic fathers of socialism and fascism have left us.Īs America and the rest of the world prepares to meet their doom, DEEP IMPACT shows the reporter, Jenny, dealing with her divorced mother and the father who abandoned his family for a young wife. ![]() A lottery will choose which families can go and which cannot. Not only is his government planning to blow up the comet, the government also is building a massive underground shelter for surviving families. The President, played by Morgan Freeman, decides to move up the date of the press conference that will tell everything to the nation and the world. The spaceship will carry nuclear weapons to break up the comet.Ī young TV news reporter named Jenny Lerner, played by Tea Leoni, accidentally finds out about the comet. When the United States government learns about a large comet scheduled to hit earth and destroy all life, it secretly works with Russia to build an experimental spaceship named Messiah. DEEP IMPACT is the most satisfying movie ever made about meteors or comets striking the earth.
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