Awhile back, there wall all this buzz over a film called Arrival, which starred Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. So, when I came across a film called The Arrival, I actually thought it was that movie. Then I realized it starred Mr. “Tiger Blood” himself, Charlie Sheen. Wanting to see what it could possibly be like, I gave it a shot. Would this movie be worth it, or should I have kept looking for the other film?
Charlie Sheen, before he started “Winning,” wasn’t that bad of an actor. When he showed up in films like Platoon,Navy Seals or Hot Shots, he wasn’t half bad. And in The Arrival, he does a decent job of creating a semi-likeable protagonist, but it’s definitely not his best performance. Other familiar faces include Richard Schiff (The West Wing (TV)) and Ron Silver (Timecop) aren’t half bad either, while Teri Polo (Meet the Parents) and Lindsay Crouse (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)) do little more than phone in their performances.
The storyline is intriguing in The Arrival. A SETI researcher discovers a signal from outer space, and instead of his discovery being celebrated, he’s fired and the evidence destroyed. With that start, the viewers should find themselves hooked, waiting to see what people are trying to hide, and how the protagonist tries to uncover the truth. It’s a setup that’s been used time and again, and it works well once again here.
Probably the oddest thing about The Arrival is the feel the director is going for. Known better as a writer (The Fugitive) than a director (The Chronicles of Riddick), David Twohy takes on both roles here. Oddly, though, he makes the odd choice of giving this film a made-for-TV vibe. It’s definitely a bizarre choice, because it really distracts from the themes this film seems to be trying to portray. Despite its 25 million dollar budget, it plays out like a cheesy B-movie. That really hurts this film, since the viewer is expecting some pretty cheesy special effects.
Surprisingly, The Arrival delivers some pretty solid special effects sequences. While some of the choices on creating different scenes are a bit odd, they look pretty good even now. There is never a moment where the viewer is pushed further away from the film by a badly done special effect, which is more important for this film than others, since it’s trying to pull the viewer back in after pushing them away with the made-for-TV vibe.
While some of the choices are weird (watching a knee bend the wrong way is odd, even if it’s well done), and the made-for-TV B-movie vibe really hurts The Arrival as a whole (even affecting the actors performances), the storyline is intriguing enough to keep the viewer sticking around until the end. There are a number of mistakes along the way, but even despite all of its flaws, it still manages to entertain the viewers who decide to check it out. By no means is it a masterpiece but there has been a lot of other films out there that can’t manage to entertain even when they have everything going for them.
