Review of Deep Impact (1998) by John R — 05 May 2010

(from The Watermark, 05/10/98).

Another what-would-happen-if-the-world-ended musing that is a lot better than it ought to be. Situation: A gigantic comet is discovered in space and it's headed right for us. A team of astronauts try to blow it up, but can't keep part of it from hitting the Earth. The U.S. President (Freeman) sets up a series of underground caves which can only save about 1 million people - who will all be chosen by lottery. Among those saved: Leoni, the newswoman who first breaks the story, who is also dealing with unresolved anger toward her father. Wood is the teen who first discovered the meteor, who can't bear the thought of being saved while leaving his girlfriend and her family behind. Duvall is one of the astronauts, an aging veteran trying to make his team of arrogant young up-and-comers understand the seriousness of their mission.

The film basically uses the Independence Day method of personalizing an impending global catastrophe by focusing on a few pseudo-connected individual stories and how the characters are affected. In the process, though, it also conveniently glosses over some major questions - most notably how the crisis would affect the country on a community level. The other problem with the film is that its elements get to be soap-operatic with an easily predictable ending. So, why did I enjoy this film as much as I did? Well, director Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker) structures her suspense and action sequences very well. The music does a lot to set the tone of the piece, plus Leder also has a first rate cast who give strong emotional performances in spite of their weak stories. Leoni comes off particularly well and very much an equal to the respectable Duvall, Freeman, and Wood. Essentially, it's not the greatest film ever made, but it's very well executed, and is the best it can be for what it is.