Today’s quick review: Deep Impact. Reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) stumbles onto the scoop of a lifetime when she pressures President Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman) into revealing the existence of a city-sized comet on a collision course with Earth. As people around the world prepare for the impact, Captain Fish Tanner (Robert Duvall) leads a crew of astronauts on a longshot mission to destroy the comet with nuclear bombs.
Deep Impact is a disaster movie about a comet whose impact could end all life on Earth. The movie follows the government, the press, and the public as they react to the news and prepare for the worst. Deep Impact features a talented cast, a well-crafted story, and a nice mix of large-scale and personal drama. However, its downbeat tone, mediocre characters, and debatable choice of subplots make it a mixed bag.
Deep Impact’s strength lies in its breadth. Deep Impact sets out to cover the impact from as many angles as it can, from the way it forces Jenny to reevaluate her relationship with her parents to the heroic lengths a teenager (Elijah Wood) goes to to protect his girlfriend (Leelee Sobieski). But the standout of the movie is Fish Tanner, the warm and reliable astronaut who represents Earth’s best hope of survival.
However, Deep Impact’s execution is rocky. Many of the characters fail to resonate, turning their subplots into a slog. The pacing of the movie is off: the comet has enough lead time that most of the cast is left waiting around while Tanner’s team take their shot. The tone is uneven, drifting between passive depression and resilient heroism without a clear pattern. The result is watchable but not as impactful as it could have been.
Give Deep Impact a shot when you’re in the mood for a quintessential disaster movie. In spite of its flaws, Deep Impact gets the basics right. Between its cast, some memorable imagery, and some emotional moments that hit the mark, the movie has something to offer. Just approach with caution if you are hoping for a more action-packed disaster movie with a defiant attitude.
For a more action-packed disaster movie with a defiant attitude, check out Armageddon. For a similarly sober disaster movie about a comet hitting the Earth, try Greenland. For a more ridiculous sci-fi disaster movie, try Geostorm or Moonfall.
[6.2 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120647/). I give it a 6.5 for a promising but mishandled story.