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Day After Tomorrow review

If you gleam one thing from the hopelessly silly "The Day After Tomorrow," it's this: If another ice age comes, the poor Canadians are doomed.

In one of the most dramatic scenes in the disaster film, a scientist draws a line through the middle of the map of United States and gravely informs the president that for everyone still north of the line "it's too late" to be saved.

You can almost hear the collective groan from Canadian audiences: "What about us, ay?" during the scene.

Speaking of groans, the movie's screenplay is sure to get a few from non-Canadian audiences as well.

Where to start?

How about a scene where a handful of people survive an almost instant drop of temperature to 100 degrees below zero by huddling around a small fireplace.

Director/screenwriter Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day") also asks you believe that a guy could hike from Washington D.C. to New York City in Arctic-like conditions, the Statue of Liberty could withstand the largest tidal wave in recorded history and helicopters can fly from the Mexican border to Manhattan without apparently refueling.

The movie stars Dennis Quaid as Jack Hall, a government scientist whose dire predictions about global warming are ignored, especially by the surly vice president who looks suspiciously like Dick Cheney.

Turns out Hall's predictions of calamity are wrong, but only in one respect: Disaster isn't 100 years away, it's happening now.

The first sign that Mother Nature's on the rampage: grapefruit-sized hail pummeling Tokyo and snow falling in Bombay. Soon tornados are slamming into Los Angeles and rain is flooding the Atlantic Coast. In fact, the weather gets so bad that millions of Americans flee to Mexico, which closes its borders.

Most of the movie's screen time, though, is concerned with Hall's efforts to rescue his 17-year-old son (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is stranded in Manhattan, having taken refuge from the weather in the New York City Library with a motley collection of people, including a homeless man, a persnickety librarian and a classmate the teen has the hots for.

Quaid, who's one of the most reliable actors working today, doesn't have much material to work with. His character never rises above the bland hero type.

Gyllenhaal, who's made a reputation for himself in interesting independent films, doesn't make much of an impression as the teenager, either. Part of the problem -- besides the weak script that doesn't give him much to do -- is that the 23-year-old Gyllenhaal is too old for the part.

People will go see "The Day After Tomorrow" for the special effects, which are impressive, at least to a point. Sure a wall of water descending on Manhattan is cool -- as is the sequence of tornadoes destroying Los Angeles -- but because there's no compelling story or characters surrounding all the on-screen destruction, you just don't care.

Probably the most remarkable thing about "The Day After Tomorrow" is the political reaction to the film. Pro-business politicians are decrying the film as propaganda, while environmentalists hope the summer blockbuster serves as a sobering wake-up call to polluters.

Both sides of the political argument probably should have seen the movie before getting riled up. "The Day After Tomorrow" isn't worth arguing about, let alone plopping down your hard-earned money to see.

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/news/stories/20040528/localnews/523978.html

Ebert says it's a great movie despite the corny plot and acting. Now that we have Ebert's number, (his opinion will be colored if the subject is political) we can ignore his reviews.

The Iraqi Governing Council has chosen the man who will head up the interim government once the U.S. hands over power June 30.

Iyad Allawi, a Shiite Muslim physician who spent years in exile, received unanimous endorsement from the council, said member Mahmoud Othman.

The session is still in progress, as members negotiate nominations of a president and two vice presidents.

Allawi was a staunch opponent to the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein, formerly holding the position of secretary-general of the Iraq National Accord, an opposition group whose membership included former military officers for Hussein's army. A 1996 coup attempt against Hussein advocated by the group failed.

During his years in exile, he served as a CIA informant, particularly after information from the better-known defector Ahmad Chalabi was discredited.

While living in London in 1978, Allawi survived an assassination attempt believed to have been ordered by Hussein.

The nomination for prime minister was previously turned down by Hussain al-Shahristani, a Canadian-educated nuclear scientist.

"In the national interest of Iraq, I don't think this is the time to give my reasons. I think we should all work to help the interim government to lead the nation onto democracy and prepare for elections," he said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press Thursday. Link