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Dark Matter

Meryl Streep brightens a bleak drama

By Geoff Berkshire

Metromix
April 10, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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Chinese cosmology student Liu Xing (Liu Ye) joins the research team of celebrated scientist Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn) at a prestigious American university after achieving the highest scores ever on the program's qualifying exam. He pursues his theories on dark matter and finds a friend in Joanna (Meryl Streep), a local woman with an interest in Chinese culture, but the insecure Reiser mistakes Liu’s enthusiasm for arrogance and things take a turn for the worse.

Big question: Can a movie that wins Sundance’s Alfred P. Sloan prize for films focusing on issues of science or technology actually connect with audiences?

Skip it: "Dark Matter" shifts haphazardly between a playful look at immigrants in America and a sledgehammer take on cultural isolation and differences, complete with heavy-handed dialogue (Joanna's husband tells her, "I just don't understand the need you have to make a connection"). Neither approach proves particularly convincing.

Catch it: Streep adds another finely etched portrayal to her resume and makes the film more valuable just by being in it. But her work so overshadow the rest of what’s on screen it's as if LeBron James decided to suit up with a high school team for a day.

Bottom line: The overblown ending demands far greater psychological insight and nuance than the film is capable of providing. You could charge Streep with stealing the movie but there’s not much to take.

Bonus: Director Chen Shi-Zheng is a renowned opera director making his narrative feature debut.

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