Cloning Around By Rita Kempley Special to The Washington Post Friday, November 17, 2000

Ah-nuld gets duplicated in "The 6th Day." (Columbia Tristar Pictures)

Schwarzenegger, anxious to be more than a mere man of action, grapples with the moral issues of cloning humans as well as the villain's cloned goons. Thus the title's biblical reference – God created man on the sixth day – and not a few speeches betwixt explosions, shootouts and chopper chases. Although it tries to brew up a potion of chromosomal magic, this baby feels as old-timey as Geritol.

Set in the near future, the story follows the plight of Adam Gibson (Schwarzenegger), just an ordinary family man, a decorated veteran of the Rainforest War and the owner of the XX helicopter charter service. One night after an ordinary day of ferrying rich people to remote locations, Adam comes home to a Doublemint nightmare: An exact duplicate has stolen his life. He's not only blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, but also making love to his wife.

The impostor is so perfectly fashioned that even she detects nothing amiss. For that matter, neither does the other Adam, a clone who possesses all of the original's moves, memories and distinctive guttural accent. In other words, Adam doesn't know from Adam. And he never will if Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn), the ruthless CEO of a cloning conglomerate, can prevent it.

Along with its kosher operations – cloning beloved family pets and filling the seas with Frankenfish – Drucker's Replacement Technologies is cloning humans, which is strictly forbidden under the 6th Day Law. The extra Adam is living proof of their illegal activities and must be terminated lest Drucker be exposed. Henchmen are dispatched and the battle commences.

However, as Schwarzenegger promised in interviews, "The 6th Day" is a warmer, fuzzier action thriller, one that he can show his children. In character, he warns a bad guy to mind his manners around his daughter. "I don't want to expose her to any graphic violence. She already gets enough of that from the media."

Nevertheless, the body count remains high. But the star probably thinks the numbers are offset because everyone he kills is resurrected and he must slay them again. "Give me a break," says one bad guy. "I've already been killed twice today."

Schwarzenegger looks frayed around his edges and his acting skills have never been more, well, Schwarzeneggerian. Suffice it to say, the identical Ah-nolds bring out the worst in each other. They resemble a pair of oil drums at a ballroom dance competition. For all the guff about playing God, "The 6th Day" really is just the world's first buddy movie for one.

The 6th Day (124 minutes, at area theaters) is rated PG-13 for a yucky cloning scene, violence and language.