Review of The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) by Paulo G — 16 Jan 2011

The Day the Earth Stood Still has many flaws, one being that the plot stands still along with it.

Okay, so a huge glowing sphere descends to earth, settling - where else? Yup, the good old US of A, naturally what emerges is shot, gotta love them flag waving American boys.. Anyway, the being "Keanu Reeves" is taken to be examined, interrogated and possibly saved by a team of scientists including "Jennifer Connelly" to determine why these beings broke our air space and have landed on "our planet" says Secretary of Defence "Kathy Bates" who was chosen for this role because of her ability to give pluck and her seasoned acting career, but sadly feels out of place here. "Jaden Smith" who definitely shows his acting ability, but again sadly only used as a plot device for emotional moments. A noted performance by "John Cleese" again, underused.. As for the star? Well, Keanu is often low-key in his roles, but in this movie, his piano has no keys at all. You would think that a being from another world would take on ALL traits from inhabiting another body. Maybe it should have chosen to take over the body of a better actor, or at least one with *some* emotion.

All this is presented in an expensive, good-looking film that is well-made by Scott Derrickson, but fails because it goes nowhere. The only aspect of this film I cared about was Connelly's character essentially keeping the human interest afloat. Nobody is better than Connelly at looking really soulful, there are scenes requiring BOTH actors to be soulful, and she takes up the extra burden effortlessly.