Movie report: Gattaca
Someday, Uma Thurman will appear in a movie where she doesn’t smirk. This isn’t that movie, but I had my hopes. For the first third of it, she is stern and suspicious of the main character, Vincent. She has good reason to be suspicious.
The world of Gattaca, as with most good science fiction, is like our world, but with a twist. In this world, parents have the option of scanning their almost-conceived children for genetic defects, and correcting any problems, plus doing a genetic makeover to produce designer babies. This is sold to parents much as special day-care and pre-school is sold to parents today: don’t you want the best for your child, to give them the best start in life? Who can say no?
Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is a child made the old-fashioned way, in the back seat of a car, without genetic upgrades. He has a heart condition that will limit his life, and he needs glasses. His younger brother, however, gets the full genetic treatment and is the family’s golden boy.
In this society, the genetic elite, the Valids, get all the best jobs and opportunities in life, although they all do seem to wear the same dark suits and severe haircuts, which I would find a drawback. The In-Valids, like Vincent, are the janitors. Except that Vincent has a driving ambition to become an astronaut – a Valid-only position – and he devises a way to do it. He finds Jerome (Jude Law), a Valid with the right genetic stuff, but who was crippled in a car accident and is now shunned by Valid society. Vincent assumes Jerome’s identity, transforming his own appearance, having his legs broken and re-set to achieve Jerome’s height, and carrying around samples of Jerome’s blood and urine in order to pass the frequent genetic tests. Yeah, he’s that driven.
And it all seems to be working out. Vincent is on the fast track to a space mission, when there is a murder at the space agency (the Gattaca of the title). CSI finds traces of an In-Valid at the crime scene, and a major witch hunt starts, closing in on Vincent and his guilty secret. That’s when Uma looks suspicious.
This develops into a tense sci-fi thriller, tech noir, if you will. Is Vincent the murderer? Will he get caught? Will he get to go into space? Will Uma turn him in to the genetic police? Will Uma smirk?
This movie explores a lot of angles about identity and who we really are, whether with or without the genetic sparkle. And it’s amazing how scifi-ish the movie is without lasers, robots, or explosions. But ultimately I didn’t care for it, because I didn’t care for any of the people. Vincent is supposed to represent true humanity overcoming this genetic fascism, but he’s not a likeable guy. Jerome is a repellent drunk for most of the movie. Uma is Uma, and I’m not part of the cult that finds her every twitch fascinating.
There is some interesting nameplay going on. For example, Gattaca, the name of their space agency, is composed of only the letters G, A, T, and C, which are the abbreviations of the four building blocks of DNA. Vincent comes from a Latin word meaning “conquering”. His brother’s name, Anton, means “against”. That kind of thing.
Recommendation: Fair. (Excellent if you like dark suits.)
Someday, Uma Thurman will appear in a movie where she doesn’t smirk. This isn’t that movie, but I had my hopes. For the first third of it, she is stern and suspicious of the main character, Vincent. She has good reason to be suspicious.
The world of Gattaca, as with most good science fiction, is like our world, but with a twist. In this world, parents have the option of scanning their almost-conceived children for genetic defects, and correcting any problems, plus doing a genetic makeover to produce designer babies. This is sold to parents much as special day-care and pre-school is sold to parents today: don’t you want the best for your child, to give them the best start in life? Who can say no?
Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is a child made the old-fashioned way, in the back seat of a car, without genetic upgrades. He has a heart condition that will limit his life, and he needs glasses. His younger brother, however, gets the full genetic treatment and is the family’s golden boy.
In this society, the genetic elite, the Valids, get all the best jobs and opportunities in life, although they all do seem to wear the same dark suits and severe haircuts, which I would find a drawback. The In-Valids, like Vincent, are the janitors. Except that Vincent has a driving ambition to become an astronaut – a Valid-only position – and he devises a way to do it. He finds Jerome (Jude Law), a Valid with the right genetic stuff, but who was crippled in a car accident and is now shunned by Valid society. Vincent assumes Jerome’s identity, transforming his own appearance, having his legs broken and re-set to achieve Jerome’s height, and carrying around samples of Jerome’s blood and urine in order to pass the frequent genetic tests. Yeah, he’s that driven.
And it all seems to be working out. Vincent is on the fast track to a space mission, when there is a murder at the space agency (the Gattaca of the title). CSI finds traces of an In-Valid at the crime scene, and a major witch hunt starts, closing in on Vincent and his guilty secret. That’s when Uma looks suspicious.
This develops into a tense sci-fi thriller, tech noir, if you will. Is Vincent the murderer? Will he get caught? Will he get to go into space? Will Uma turn him in to the genetic police? Will Uma smirk?
This movie explores a lot of angles about identity and who we really are, whether with or without the genetic sparkle. And it’s amazing how scifi-ish the movie is without lasers, robots, or explosions. But ultimately I didn’t care for it, because I didn’t care for any of the people. Vincent is supposed to represent true humanity overcoming this genetic fascism, but he’s not a likeable guy. Jerome is a repellent drunk for most of the movie. Uma is Uma, and I’m not part of the cult that finds her every twitch fascinating.
There is some interesting nameplay going on. For example, Gattaca, the name of their space agency, is composed of only the letters G, A, T, and C, which are the abbreviations of the four building blocks of DNA. Vincent comes from a Latin word meaning “conquering”. His brother’s name, Anton, means “against”. That kind of thing.
Recommendation: Fair. (Excellent if you like dark suits.)
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