GATTACA micro-review

[prog]

Rented it because I recall hearing that it was well received at a previous SF marathon (before I started attending it).

Hated it.

I was ready to like it (except for the totally extraneous bite-me love story). I appreciated how the setting was not a generic Orwellian dystopia, with the depiction of an honestly ambitious and successful space program keeping things nicely ambiguous. Then the ending made me retroactively hate the entire film that came before.

I thought, right up until the end, that the movie was going to defy my expectations (and Hollywood formula) by allowing the hero's male hetero buddy to survive the picture. As we all know, suspense-movie templates often demand that male hetero buddies pay for the hero's friendship with their lives. I was actually surprised when he managed to live through the police interview at his home, sure that he'd get shot or fall down the stairs or drink some bad milk or find some way to sacrifice himself to protect the hero's identity.

So then the movie's coming to a close and oh shit we forgot to kill the MHB! Ah, no worries, we'll just have him commit suicide for absolutely no reason. Also in the most excruciating way possible because it's more symbolic that way and we can do this cool parallel shot with the rocket boosters firing.

This is the first time in memory I have shut off a movie in disgust within (what I assume to be) seconds of the closing credits, so I didn't even get the grim satisfaction of feeling like I walked out on it.

Comments

[cortezopossum.livejournal.com]

I saw GATTACA a while back. I remember liking it but something in the ending disappointed me. You may have hit upon it.