This science fiction fairy tale lands in cinemas
dead on arrival.
When underachieving Noah (Chris O'Neil) and his
gifted younger sister Emma (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) spend their
spring vacation at their family's beach-front cabin on Whidbey
Island near Seattle, they find a mysterious box floating in
the water. Inside the box are a crystalline tablet, rocks with
amazing properties, and a stuffed toy rabbit named Mimzy that
Emma claims talks to her. After Noah causes a massive blackout
and begins to develop advanced mental powers, Homeland Security
arrests the entire family, and it's up to Noah and Emma to get
Mimzy back where it belongs.
New Line Cinema chairman Bob Shaye sits in the
director's chair for the first time since 1990's Book of
Love, and the evidence suggests that he should have stayed
in the boardroom. The film starts out butter-knife dull, and
by the time something interesting happens it's almost over,
making it impossible to summon up an ounce of caring about the
outcome. What the characters experience is supposed to be miraculous
and world changing, but there's simply no sense of awe communicated
to the audience through Shaye's flat direction. It's billed
as a family film, but good family films appeal to people of
all ages. Adults and children alike will probably be bored stiff.
I witnessed a man and his young daughter walk out and never
return.
The film is based on a 1943 short story by Lewis
Padgett, adapted by James V. Hart (Hook, Bram Stoker's
Dracula, Contact) and Carol Skilken with a screenplay
by Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost, Jacob's Ladder)
and Toby Emmerich (Frequency). Despite the involvement
of several competent screenwriters, it's surprisingly weak,
unfocused, and even preachy at times. It's like they watched
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (substitute Mimzy for E.T.
and it's the same basic plot) and drew all the wrong conclusions
about what made it good. Also, the idea that Homeland Security
could be outwitted by two children and a stuffed animal certainly
has some comedic value, but the script fails to mine it.
The visual effects are good but there's no emotional
impact provided by them, and that's the problem with the film
as a whole--instead of relying on sound storytelling for that
impact, Shaye relies on effects. Cinematographer J. Michael
Muro (Crash) doesn't add much pizzazz to the visuals,
but he does put the Vancouver and Seattle locations to good
use. Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings) contributes
an uninspired score, although the theme song he co-wrote with
Roger Waters is much better.
Rhiannon Leigh Wryn as Emma is really the best
thing about the film with her effortless charm and natural performance.
Chris O'Neil is solid enough in his film debut as Noah. Rainn
Wilson and Kathryn Hahn are funny as a science teacher and his
dippy fiancee, so it's a pity that they don't have more screen
time. Timothy Hutton and Joely Richardson are blandly forgettable
as Emma and Noah's parents. Michael Clarke Duncan seems out
of place as a Homeland Security regional director. Randi Lynne
has a funny scene as a babysitter who comes unglued after witnessing
what Emma can do with the rocks from the box. Bruce Harwood
(one of the X-Files' Lone Gunmen) has a cameo as a scientist,
as does noted physicist Brian Greene.
The Last Mimzy seems reminiscent of
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, only without the entertainment
value or the emotional impact. Not recommended.
