The Invasion

Every twenty years or so, we are given a new film version of the sci-fi classic “The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney. Each incarnation of the story speaks directly to the time it was produced; in this post-9/11 era, a revisiting of the material would prove appropriately apt. Yet instead of a smart and thought-provoking sci-fi thriller, we have been given a jumbled mess made of swallow observations of today’s America. Any potentially noteworthy aspects of the film (and there are many) are destroyed by poor writing and risk-free producing by those only in it for the money.

The basic premise is the same; a lone hero, here a therapist, (as portrayed by Nicole Kidman) receives an odd complaint from an acquaintance, one of her patients (Veronica Cartwright, an alumnus of the 1978 Philip Kaufman remake): her husband is not her husband. At first, the heroine writes it off as the ramblings of an insecure person, but more and more people begin displaying the same symptoms; emotionless detachment, sudden bursts of violence and a tendency to stare unsettlingly at people. It is not long before the acquaintance’s proclamations are proved right: an alien life form is taking over the bodies of humans, changing them during REM sleep. All of this is taken directly from previous versions of the film, but several turns are made; aside from the main character being female, a son now enters the picture. And this son is not just any ordinary child; he holds the key to the secret behind the invasion. Is it just me, or is “the key” something we all lose when we hit 18? Children only seem to have “the key” nowadays.

There are several points of interest that keep the film from sliding into complete banality, or a mere clone of other new age paranoia thrillers. For one, the accomplished cast gives the material their all. Kidman is quite effective in the lead, her portrayal becoming more intriguing as she begins the hunt for her son. The direction of German-born Oliver Hirschbiegel is stark and alienating; the perfect look for the type of paranoid thriller the film wants to be. At several points in the film, he creates small montages of jump cuts, moving forward and back in time that heighten tension and purposely create confusion, adding some life into what otherwise would be completely predictable. This technique is most effective in a thrilling sequence set in a dank, dirty subway station. As Kidman struggles to get away from the infected, the image jumps forward in time, giving brief glimpses of the aftermath before it happens. It is a daring move, one that pushes the film to an experimental level not typically seen in summer Hollywood fare.

Unfortunately, producer Joel Silver apparently noticed and seems determined to stop it. The finale, your typical explosion-filled, quick-cutted and loud car chase sequence, seems to belong to another movie entirely; it may as well be, since the scenes were obviously directed by another (the Wachowski brothers). It is this, coupled with the swallow writing that prove the film’s downfall. The script subscribes to nearly every cliché set forth by THE RING, THE GRUDGE, and other recent thriller hits. Distressed woman in the lead? Check. Creepy yet lovable child who becomes the point of interest? Check. Topical subjects just to show how important this film is? Check. It’s all there. And what’s worse, the film’s final message is about as subtle as the aforementioned car crash; from the constant barrage of news footage covered shuttle explosions and Middle East conflicts to blatant suspicions that pharmaceutical companies may be doing more damage than good (gasp!) and that the government may be lying to us (double gasp!), the script practically brands itself with IMPORTANT in every scene. It gets so bad as to become laughable in certain cases; for example, the infected pass on the “virus” by vomiting into drinks and serving them to the unbeknownst. It’s like flu mania, as if the entire country was populated by five-year olds who think cooties are worse than germs.

The end result is simply disappointing. With a source that appears always ripe for reinvention, a talented cast and highly acclaimed director, THE INVASION should be much better than it is. The film’s descent into standard Hollywood thriller moviemaking is one of the main faults; one wonders if the film would have been better off untouched. Hey, look at the Bourne franchise; there are people willing to use their brains while they’re at the movies. Yet the swallow and painfully obvious script is a major fault as well; in an effort to connect to today’s world, the film becomes preachy when it should be alienating and terrifying. By the film’s end, when everything has been wrapped up all neat and tidy, the viewer is left unsatisfied. The only moments of genuine suspense belong all to Hirschbiegel; if anything, this film will be remembered as the severely flawed yet intriguing debut of this fascinating filmmaker.

*1/2