The Invasion

The ads for this third, count 'em, third remake of the campy 1956 sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers warns, "Do Not Trust Anyone" (yeah, who tells you to see this movie). Nicole Kidman stars as a D.C. psychiatrist caught up in an alien invasion, except the whole thing is an "invasion" of the body as a kind of mysterious extraterrestrial pandemic breaks out infecting the human race through food and contact. Even worse, as it spreads, she discovers this evil "flu" has the ability to do its nasty while we sleep, effectively remodeling people into emotionless beings. Knowing her son is in danger and her estranged spouse (Jeremy Northam) is acting really weird, she enlists her friend, a doctor (Daniel Craig), to help before it's too late. With its unattractive, washed-out look, sloppy editing, and patched-together script, this claustrophobic movie has the feel of a film that started out to be one thing and ended up way off course. In fact, word is the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) and others were brought in to fix this mess after the studio ordered reshoots, which might explain why it all seems like several movies in one. On the plus side, there is some pungent political commentary weaving in and out and a couple of moderately exciting sequences, but overall it just doesn't work. After recycling Bewitched, The Stepford Wives, and now Body Snatchers, maybe Kidman ought to stop doing retreads for a while. Interestingly, the film has been on the shelf so long that Craig, who was not yet cast as James Bond when The Invasion went into production, subsequently became a worldwide superstar when Casino Royale hit theaters almost a year ago!