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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Solaris
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 out of 4
Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
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Back in 1972, Andrei Tarkovsky turned Polish writer Stanislaw Lem's
metaphysical sci-fi novel into a classic, if lengthy, Russian film - and, quite
frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long for an American film-maker to adapt
it. Now Oscar-winners Steven Soderberg ("Traffic") and James Cameron ("Titanic")
tackle the provocative, philosophical story of a psychologist (George Clooney)
who's sent to a space station in orbit around a strange and perhaps sentient
planet named Solaris. His mission is to investigate mysterious deaths on-board
but, instead, he discovers mind-bending supernatural phenomena that allow him,
mysteriously, to be reunited with his late wife (Natascha McElhone) who
committed suicide. So here's this facsimile of his dead wife, a humorless,
enigmatic 'visitor' in her husband's mind, who is made flesh again. Does she
really exist? "There are no answers, only choices." But there are several
cinematic problems:1) the lack of suspense, 2) the dull tone of sterile
emotional detachment, 3) the awkward inconsistency of George Clooney as an
intellectual, introspective scientist seeking redemption, and 4) the murky
babbling of 'crew members' Jeremy Davies, Ulrich Tukur and Viola Davis, who
finally mutters: "I never get used to these resurrections." Another puzzling
aspect is the "Solaris" marketing plan, emphasizing the tepid sex scenes,
planting gossipy tidbits about glimpses of George Clooney's bare-bottom. Like
who cares? Finally, consider this ludicrous Steven Soderberg promotional quote:
"It's '2001: A Space Odyssey' meets 'Last Tango in Paris.'" Not! On the Granger
Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Solaris" is a ponderous, pretentious, floundering 4.
It's a weird, risky concept about illusion and reality. Sometimes risks pay off,
sometimes they don't. This doesn't.
Copyright © 2002 Susan Granger
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