Janet Maslin, movie critic for The
New York Times, says Gattaca is "an
impressively fine-tuned first feature from Andrew
Niccol" and praises the film's "obsessive
attention to detail." Somehow her review fails
to note that Gattaca is also the Hollywood debut of
the Endless Pool, though perhaps this omission can
be explained by the duration of the scene -- about
8 thoroughly riveting seconds.
Set in "the not-too-distant future," according
to the prologue, and named for the sinister corporate
entity which is its focus, the movie is a star vehicle
for Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, and a cautionary
tale about genetic engineering. The triumph-of-the-human-will-over-technology
conclusion is hardly novel, but neither is it heavy-handed
in execution. Several of the film's human performances—especially
that of Jude Law, making his own major feature debut—are
affecting.
But back to the Endless Pool scene: Maslin describes
the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building that serves
as Gattaca's headquarters as "... a perfect reflection
of the film's spare, controlled state of mind."
Just like the Endless Pool, eh, Janet? The symbolism
here is obvious. And foresight—in Hollywood
science fiction, anyway—is always 20-20. So
is hindsight: We can't resist pointing out that the
sibling rivalry forming one of the movie's major plot
threads could have been greatly alleviated if both
boys had had access to an Endless Pool.
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