# Gattaca (1997)

### reviewed by
James Brundage

    Gattaca (1997)

Written and Directed by Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show)

    Starring:

Ethan Hawke (Great Expectations) as Vincent Freeman / Jerome Morrow

Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction) as Irene Cassini

Alan Arkin (Grosse Point Blank) as Investigator Hugo Coldspring

Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley) as Jerome Morrow / Eugene Morrow

Loren Dean (The End of Violence) as Investigator / Aton Freeman

Elias Koteas (The Thin Red Line) as Antonio

    As Reviewed by James Brundage

We're all becoming Orwells. Hollywood, me, you, the Internet, everyone is becoming in a constant state of surveillance. It's a trend. Enemy of the State and The End of Violence use it. The Truman Show, Dark City, Pleasantville. All of them used it. And, as good as any one of those films, Gattaca uses it.

Gattaca is a character drama in the guise of a thriller, the same way that The Truman Show was a drama in the guise of a comedy. Andrew Niccol works his beautiful charms with both of them. In Gattaca, he offers us a stunning vision of the not-so-distant future, a time where genetic engineering is so commonplace that it is common practice. The world, of course, has the drawback that anyone who was not genetically engineered is part of a new class of society, called an invalid.

Vincent Freeman was born this way. He chooses, however, not to remain and invalid but become what is known as a de-generate, someone who uses other people's blood, urine, hair etc. to fake a genetic code superior to their own. His dream was to end up in space and being this particularly loathed thing is the only way he is able to do it. Lending his dream to the real Gerome Morrow, a suicidal cripple, the two band together to get him into space. Everything is going well, he is set to leave in a week. Then the mission director is murdered.

This occurs, in my opinion, only to keep less intelligent viewers interested in the story, which contains enough pathos to warrant me watching it if it didn't involve a murder at all. As Vincent tries to keep his secret, he is falling in love with Irene Cassini, another worker at Gattaca, the story's equivalent of Cape Canaveral. The panic caused by the moment causes each person involve to examine themselves, society, and the state of the world.

The sad thing about Gattaca is that so many people will hate this movie because of its utterly slow pace. It does not keep the interest of someone not intrigued by people, which encompasses most every viewer today. So that takes out studio fans, and its Star Trek target audience. Everyone else, including you indie lovers, should tape it the next time it airs on HBO, though.

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