It was 1982 and I was drinking the cinematic Kool-Aid, going to see E.T. for the umpteenth time. Actually I'm fibbing. I mean I loved E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, one of the greatest moviegoing experiences of my lifetime. Now 44 years later, I decided to take in Steven Spielberg's latest wildly-hyped creation, Disclosure Day. The space critters are getting exposed, the government is ticked off, and Wyatt Russell's character Jackson is completely aghast. "People have the right to know the truth." Uh, you think?
Reflecting on Spielberg vehicles of the past and near present, Disclosure Day (starring Emily Blunt and Colin Firth) is certainly not his best but it's very far from becoming his worst. In fact, the only thing it suffers from is possibly being a little too Spielbergian for its own good. You know, that overly sense of wonder and those unusual tracking shots and well, that good old sentimentality. The runtime is 145 minutes, the soundtrack is slumming John Williams, and David Koepp's screenplay is all nuts and bolts, not too cheesy but a little dated and possessing Steven's hokey touches. "What am I doing?" "What am I doing?" See what I mean?
So OK, there are critics out there who think Disclosure Day is Steven Spielberg greatest hits fodder, a rehash or reheat of his lifelong schtick. I mean maybe, what with all the War of the Worlds and Minority Report and Close Encounters of the Third Kind residue, sure. But take another look kiddies (and possibly another full viewing which is what I plan on doing) and you'll find a swiftly-paced, thinking person's drama with a couple of nifty car chases. Steven, well he still knows where to put the camera and can still spin a yarn like a pro bowler getting his throw on throwing strikes. What's even more impressive is how Stevie boy can make what's on screen feel like it could actually happen (or already has) in terms of the sci-fi untruths upending. Whole "day".
Written by Jesse Burleson
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