Review: The Fourth Kind (2009)

The Fourth Kind (2009)

1.0

HORROR

U.S. Release Date: 11/06/09
Running Length: 98 Minutes
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violent/Disturbing Images, Thematic Elements and Briief Sexuality)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2:35:1
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Will Patton, Elias Koteas
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi
Screenplay: Olatunde Osunsanmi
Cinematography: Lorenzo Senatore
Music: Atli Örvarsson
U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures

Review by: Carter Moulton, for The State News

10/29/09

Close encounter of the first kind: sighting of a UFO.

Close encounter of the second kind: physical evidence.

Close encounter of the third kind: contact with extraterrestrial life.

Close encounter of the fourth kind: frustratingly bad execution, acting and makeup?

The Fourth Kind begins with actress Milla Jovovich (of the “Resident Evil” series) walking toward the camera in a morning-lit forest. She looks at the camera and tells the audience she is portraying psychologist Abigail Tyler throughout the film, which is based on facts. She then tells viewers archived footage and audio of Tyler’s “rare case studies” are used throughout the film and, to protect certain individuals, the names have been changed.

Then we get a glimpse of the “real footage.” Fail. The “real” Tyler looks more like an extraterrestrial than a human being. With makeup splotched over her pale-as-crusted-Elmer’s-glue skin, the actress who plays the “real” Tyler is annoying to listen to, on the edge of tears with her every whimpered word.

The story takes place in Nome, Alaska, and revolves around Tyler and the mysterious death of her husband. Now the sole parent of two children, Tyler continues work, where she begins to hear strange accounts of an “owl-like figure” perching over patients in their sleep.

The “real” footage during Tyler’s meetings with patients is more well done, but director and writer Olatunde Osunsanmi chooses to split the screen in half—sometimes in quarters—to show the “real” footage and the re-enactments at the same time. For instance, we see the “real” footage of a patient convulsing under hypnosis on the left half of the screen and the actor re-enacting the patient on the right. This technique reminds us the re-enactment is just that: acting.

Jovovich does an admirable job as the re-enacted Tyler, but the other acting in the film is unintentionally funny. Will Patton (Remember the Titans) plays the sheriff of Nome, and his character redefines the meaning of stupidity, ignoring everyone around him and randomly shouting irrelevant orders across rooms.

The story really gets going with Egyptian gods, dead languages, owls, a theme of Christianity (random references to “3:33”) and alien abductions all trying to meld into one cohesive story. And this is supposed to be true?

The only shred of truth about the film is that there have been a large number of missing persons in Nome since 1960. More than 20 people have gone missing during this time period, according to the FBI. That’s about one and a half people per year, which I wouldn’t consider a large amount.

Osunsanmi’s execution simply doesn’t match his ambition, and although I see the goal of making the audience wonder what is real, the “real” footage isn’t convincing enough. There’s not enough focus in Osunsanmi’s story, not enough satisfaction in the “scares” he provides; and there’s too much of the “real” Tyler sniveling over the soundtrack. Do yourself a favor, stop counting at Close Encounters of the Third Kind and watch Steven Spielberg’s classic from 1977.