Movie #1233 "Arrival" is a very ambitious sci-fi film with a subdued amount of CG stuff. As a result, it depends a lot on reaction shots and whatever other tool Amy Adams uses to get across her thoughts and fears in the female. And FEAR is the focus of the film, and we are with Amy from the opening and the closing. So although we have never had huge alien monoliths land in various places in the world, we have experienced facing our fears, which is what everyone does here in the film. She, being an ace linguist, is asked to help decipher the hepatods' (sp?) communication code, which brings her face to face with the creatures, and those scenes work pretty well. I don't want to give away too much about the film because it would greatly affect the challenges watching the film bring --- enough said there, but I need to speak on the pacing which was really slow to me --- but it might not affect you because neither Dave nor the woman sitting next to me noticed it but the guy in front who was snoring loudly felt it, I think. Because you are kept at a distance, even when you want to get closer and get to solutions, the film keeps you at a distance for a tad longer, and so it felt a bit stretched to me --- but it was all necessary, so I didn't mind and I don't think you will either. The different way the story is told, the acting, photography and themes are all reasons for seeing this anomalous film, but you might feel the music is a bit too much? It is one you'll want to discuss long after it comes to a close. I give it 4 stars out of 5, and I'm thinking it might be nominated for some awards in the future, esp. for Ms. Adams.
ARRIVAL 2016 PG-13 4 stars out of 5
Confronted by a mass landing of alien vessels around the globe, military leaders seek the help of brilliant linguist Louise Banks in an effort to communicate with the extraterrestrials and determine their intentions.
Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker,
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