Review: Gattaca

Set in a genetically engineered future where you can eliminate all sorts of impurities, Ethan Hawke plays one of the few to have been born ‘naturally’. Thus in a society where genetic perfection is given privileged status, his station in life is relegated to boring menial professions like cleaning toilets (hello, Ernest Borgnine as Hawke’s boss). Being higher-minded than that, Hawke decides to look for an alternative, no matter how underhanded. He enlists the aid of cynical Jude Law, a genetically superior being who unfortunately is rendered physically disabled due to an accident. Hawke will impersonate Law, who in turn supplies Hawke with necessary blood and urine samples for him to pass security checks at the space institute. Now Hawke’s dream of space travel can become a reality…that is until there’s a murder at work. Enter hard-nosed detectives Alan Arkin and Loren Dean who look into matters, matters which seem to be pointing in Hawke’s direction. Uma Thurman plays co-worker, Gore Vidal plays the space mission director, Tony Shalhoub is a broker of genetic profiles, and Xander Berkeley conducts the blood and urine tests.

 

I’m probably a lot milder on this 1997 sci-fi film from debuting Kiwi-born writer-director Andrew Niccol (the subsequent disappointments “S1m0ne” and “In Time”, the quite good satire “Lord of War”) than most people. Still, make no mistake: I do actually like the film and will definitely recommend it. However, my overall impression today is much as it was when I first saw it as a teenager: Mild interest, and the once-promising Niccol’s career probably peaked the following year writing the script for “The Truman Show”.

 

What Mr. Niccol is to be commended for unquestionably is pulling off a science fiction film set in a futuristic dystopian society…on a fairly slender budget. Right from the word go he puts you in a fairly convincing Orwellian future in what is basically a test-tube baby blend of “1984” and “THX-1138”. There’s some real classic sci-fi themes here. Some will disagree with me, but I don’t think I’d want to know the exact circumstances of my impending death. I think it would mess with your psyche too much. And designer babies? That Hitler eugenics stuff is just plain wrong. No thank you. None of this is a criticism of the film, which is merely playing around with these themes, rather than endorsing the ideas. The ideas are absolutely fascinating. At its heart the film is about class discrimination, and hoping to advance beyond your station.

 

I was less enamoured with the look of the film. I know this was the beginning of the era of filters/colour-correction, but the film would look far more stunning if Niccol adopted more colours than bile yellow/snot green. I also felt that a pre-“Kill Bill” Uma Thurman’s performance was unnecessarily stilted, almost as if Niccol had told her she was playing an android or alien (She and Hawke also engage in quite possibly the silliest and goofiest-looking love scene in cinematic history). In fact, the entire film has a bit of a dearth of warm, likeable characters. I understand why, but even for a sterile dystopian society, this film comes off a tad too cold-blooded for my taste. It’s all a little bit too Cronenberg-detached. On the plus side, the music score by Michael Nyman (“Ravenous”) is outstanding.

 

My biggest problem with the film is that I didn’t buy the explanation for why people don’t notice/realise that Hawke doesn’t look remotely like his ID photo. It’s such an easy thing to fix that it annoyed me that Niccol doesn’t seem to realise that the explanation isn’t even necessary. Just fix the damn photo. It makes the characters look stupid at the service of a point that I didn’t think was really worth it. The other main flaw with the film is that despite the destination it arrives at, the majority of the film plays out in such a way that it leaves you to think it’s heading in the complete opposite direction. I don’t think it’s clever misdirection, it’s just confusing and weird.

 

I think Ethan Hawke is a pretty limited actor, but playing a dreamer in a world where dreams are likely implants, he’s a good choice in one of his best parts to date. Even better is an embittered Jude Law as a man genetically blessed but physically damaged after an accident. Alan Arkin is solid as always playing a futuristic police detective, Xander Berkeley gets to play a fairly decent sort for once, and Tony Shalhoub has a choice cameo too. It’s always a pleasure to see the inimitable Ernest Borgnine on screen, here essentially playing the boss of a company of futuristic toilet cleaners. It’s not much of a part, but it’s Ernest Borgnine, you know he’s gonna make his moments count. Loren Dean for me was a casting mistake, the guy was seemingly everywhere around the mid-to-late 90s and early 00s, and I don’t recall a single solid performance to show for it. Although the film has dated in some areas, it certainly hasn’t dated much in the FX department and that’s because Niccol doesn’t go overboard with FX here. The budget likely didn’t afford much.

 

Slightly spotty in some respects, fairly but solid sci-fi movie with plenty of fascinating ideas at play. It could’ve been better, but Niccol should certainly be commended for pulling of a futuristic sci-fi film on a moderate budget. Terrific music score and good work by several of the cast members, though. Jude Law and Ethan Hawke do some of their best work, the former especially.

 

Rating: B-