Solaris Starring George Clooney, Natascha McElhone Directed by Steven Soderbergh Rated PG-13 for sexuality/nudity, brief language and thematic elements *** out of 4 Stars, Movie Grade: B

Released November 27, 2002

Running time: 98 minutes

by Kevin Lang

I never saw the original 1972 version of "Solaris," based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem. Fellow reviewers had warned me to watch the original at my own risk. A couple even said that when trying to watch it, they couldn't make it through. It was just too slow and confusing.

So, I trekked to see George Clooney paired again with director Steven Soderbergh in "Solaris," a film that Soderbergh also wrote the updated screenplay for. Forty-five minutes into the movie I watched the two people next to me (local theater managers) get up and walk out. Despite having to stay, I was somewhat interested in where the film was going.

The story, set in the future, involved a psychiatrist named Chris Kelvin (George Clooney) who was sent to a space station to study its occupants, some of whom were already dead, and others who were undergoing severe emotional stress. Chris had lost his wife, Rheya (Natascha McElhone), several years earlier, and shortly after arriving aboard the space station, he began to experience what the others were going through.

The original crew had been sent to study a strange glowing mass known as Solaris. Its affects on the crew were that it could recreate human forms from their memories. Chris, who longed to make right what happened with Rheya, eventually discovered her presence aboard the ship. She was a replicated physical entity that for all intensive purposes was an indistinguishable duplicate of his wife. He had wanted her so badly that he tried to ignore that she likely wasn't real, at least not by our own sense of morality.

"Solaris" is the kind of movie that gets better as you think about it more. That is if you allow yourself to get past its very slow pace. There was also very little music, which made the movie seem more slow and still, although this was probably intended, or else in the end it wouldn't of had the same effect.

"Solaris" was a depressing and haunting movie that worked to some degree. However, it will likely fail to win over many moviegoers due to its pace and lack of a clearer story. After letting it rest in my mind for a day, I can't help but like "Solaris" on certain levels.

Here is my current explanation of the film without giving anything away. Solaris, alien in nature or not, tested the inner strength of the crew. I would be surprised if the author of the novel, Stanislaw Lem, hadn't lost someone close to him in his life. Chris Kelvin was a man who could never let go of his wife. He could never forgive himself for what had happened. Solaris seemed metaphoric for this. Its power offers you your innermost longings, and it draws you into a state of such mental disorder that you can only find peace in believing what is not real. And it would take unimaginable strength to overcome those feelings.

In the end it came down to a choice for Chris Kelvin. Could he ever feel good again about life without Rheya and not eternally long for a way to fix his past, and could he, feeling so close to her again, let her go completely and somehow move on with his life. Watching him make his choice was one of the most powerful scenes in the film.

In the end, if you're looking for a roaring love story as the commercials falsely advertised, this was not that type of film. "Solaris" was much more depressingly dark and mind bending. Dismissing it as a bad movie would have been to ignore the unsettling impression that it left on me. And it was this very impression that stayed with me all the way home from the theater. It was the type of movie that will likely gain a cult following, but will more than likely not garner much wider acclaim.

"Solaris" Review written November 26, 2002, CTF.