Steven Soderbergh's remake of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film (of the same name) exudes the impressive authority of a "2001," with similarly slow and meticulous pacing, and credible, futuristic production design. But the movie, starring George Clooney, never rises above its surface texture. And Clooney, who's easy on many an eye, is only moderately effective as Chris Kelvin, the story's central character.
Kelvin, a doctor who's grieving his dead wife (Natascha McElhone), has been sent to a space station near the planet Solaris to investigate what has happened to the strangely uncommunicative crew. He finds that Gibarian (Ulrich Tukur), the commander of the expedition, has died. And the two survivors (including Jeremy Davies and Viola Davis) display strange behavior. Little by little, Kelvin becomes affected by the weird atmosphere. It isn't long before he gets a visit from his supposedly dead wife. As Kelvin comes to grips with this being who seems to be his wife, the movie enters the metaphysical zone and leaves all hope of box office success back on Earth. Even by the art film standards it apes, "Solaris" lacks conviction. And although it's meant to be restrained and free of emotional hysteria, the result is a movie that pretty much lies dead on the screen for an hour and a half.
George Clooney and Natascha McElhone star in "Solaris."
(20th Century Fox)
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SOLARIS (PG-13, 95 minutes) – Contains nudity, sexual situations and some violence. Area theaters.
