Solaris (2002)
Review by Dindrane

Written by Steven Soderbergh, based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Starring George Clooney, Natascha McElhone, Jeremy Davies, Viola Davis, Ulrich Tukur, and Morgan Rusler

My Advice: Wait for Cable.

A psychological mystery-thriller, this film is one of most distinct films of the fall. Clooney plays a psychiatrist summoned to a space station orbiting the planet of Solaris at the behest of an old friend. It seems that something odd has begun to affect the crew of the station, and for some reason, only Clooney can help them. The heart of what is happening is that the planet of Solaris is somehow creating three-dimensionally, seemingly real in all ways “Visitors” drawn from the memories of the crew. The Visitor of Clooney’s friend, for example, is his son, and Clooney eventually gets a replica of his wife. The rest of the movie is a playing out of what the crew decides to do about these Visitors.

Solaris desperately wants to be clever. It wants to cause viewers to think about the nature of reality and to question the permanence of death or love. Unfortunately, it just succeeds in being inexplicable and free from the burden of a plot. Some of the problems with this film cannot really be explained here without ruining some of the surprises for you, so I’ll simply say that some of the events of the film are never explained, make no sense, are rather deus ex machina, or are simply random. As it is, it’s neither satisfying nor truly though-provoking.

Apparently, the book that inspired this movie (and the 1972 version) addresses many of the problems with the movie. The book explains the source of Solaris’ sentience and other seemingly nonsensical issues. Yet there are still some questions about craft and plot, separate from the philosophical questions the film poses, that are not answered by the book--such as why a psychiatrist was sent in alone when a security team was butchered, why some residents responded so murderously to this situation, and what exactly happened with Snow’s Visitor. In short, the film itself, as a separate entity from the book, is essentially incomplete, which is a shame. As short as this film is, the creators should have drawn more from the source material; this would have made the film much more coherent and satisfying, without removing any of the philosophical questioning they wanted to induce.

The acting, on the other hand, is quite good. Davies is wonderful as the quirky, half-crazy Snow; viewers are intrigued by his enigmatic hand gestures and drawn into his malaise. Davis as Gordon is similarly intriguing, though her character could have been given more lines and therefore more depth; as it is, she comes across as rather one-dimensional—her fear. McElhone is luminous as Rheya, but Clooney, as the star, really does a quite satisfying job with what he’s given.

Solaris despite its faults is beautifully crafted, well-acted, and different than just about anything else you’ll see in theatres this season. If you can stand the painfully slow pacing, the scenes that were lingered over for no apparent reason, and the lack of logical consistency, then check this one out. Maybe you should just find yourself a copy of the book