When this movie first came out I had no desire to go see it at all. I had seen the long TV trailer they ran and was not excited in the least by it. Then the reviews came in for it and they weren’t very glowing. Then something really cool happened. Apparently once a year Beach Place here in Lauderdale has what they call a film festival on the beach. All kinds of vendors line the closed off street and a big screen is set up right on the sand. Yes sir, free movies on the beach at sunset! Last night one of those movies happened to be Day After Tomorrow.

I liked it. Don’t have me committed just yet; I’ll explain the mood… which has a lot to do with it.

The story is that a DC weather dude has determined that we’re heading for another Ice Age at an alarming rate. The Powers That Be ignore him, of course. Mayhem ensues. Really, that’s it in a nutshell.

First, I kinda liked it because it reminded me of the 70s when disaster flicks were all the rage. I actually liked Earthquake and Airplane and all the rest. I’m a dork. So, this had a little bit of a nostalgic quality for me.

The second reason, and most important actually, was the setting. With that big screen on the beach and the huge speakers going, I watched this one outside sitting in the sand with big blasts of lightning over the ocean as a backdrop, which tended to lend a bit of realism and urgency to the film. You’ve got these hurricanes forming and threatening to wipe out mankind starting with the Atlantic Seaboard… and a hella storm seems to be forming for real over the Atlantic right in front of you. See where I’m coming from here?

I’m not saying this is an Oscar-worthy flick, just that I ended up liking it more than other reviewers for various reasons.

Dennis Quaid plays the weather expert and father of a boy trapped in New York City with his potential new girlfriend. Gotta have that personal drama, eh? Not a great role by any means, but I like Quaid and he did marvelous with what he was given. Contrary to the few clips in the trailer, he really did give a sense of urgency, determination, and worry. I’ll go so far as to say this character was a real man. Hubba hubba. I mean he had that boyish grin and sense of orneriness in Dragonheart, but here he also showed that bring it on side of him that was just sexy as hell. This character is no wuss.

Jake Gyllenhaal (October Sky, Donnie Darko) as Quaid’s son did a great job too. He has his dad’s brains and spine both. He’s more terrified of telling this chick how he feels than he is of facing this on-coming disaster. Excellent job on all fronts with this guy.

Where it tends to fall apart is its tendency to get a bit preachy about global warming and our misuse of the environment. Yeah, I know, Americans tend to be resource hogs, myself included. That doesn’t mean I don’t realize it, and it certainly doesn’t mean that I want it hammered at me in a movie. I want to be entertained when I watch films, not preached at for anything.

The special effects were being touted as groundbreaking in the publicity. I’m just a layman here, but it didn’t seem all that special to me. The wall of water that hits New York is pretty cool, but everything was pretty over-shadowed in my viewing by the real effects of the lightening in the background. That isn’t the movie’s fault, of course, but well… I can’t control circumstances and there was no competition with nature. Heh.

This one runs 124 minutes and is rated PG-13. Ok there is a little language but not much. The main thing here is the fright factor, I’m thinking. Small children will like this, but it’s real enough to cause stress, worry, and nightmares. We aren’t dealing with a Freddy Krueger here, but a Global disaster that could conceivably happen some day in the distant future. You make the call.

I’m going with 3 stars. I wouldn’t pay to see it, but I’m glad I did get to see it in this setting. If you liked the disaster flicks of yore, go ahead and rent this one… but try to do it on a stormy night. Heh.



Recommended:
Yes