Film Review: ANOTHER EARTH (2011)

Director: Mike Cahill
Writers: Mike Cahill, Brit Marling
Running time: 89 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi
UK Release date: 9^th December 2011

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 19^th January 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is another of those critically acclaimed independent movies I’m rather fond of; but this time I knew very little about it before viewing. Possibly because of this, I found it a tad more enjoyable than I was expecting. What little I did know only served to set my expectations at a level slightly lower than they might have been. And so, by way of a summary; I’ll tell you the little I knew before viewing so as not to raise expectations too high.

In some not too distant future another earth is seen approaching our own. At this point an incident binds the lives of two people together. They are Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling), a student, and John Burroughs (William Mapother) a professor (different college). Their lives are drawn together, not only by the fall out from the incident, but also by the possibilities the other earth (or Earth 2 as it’s described) offers. And that’s about all I can tell you.

I thought the performances from both Brit Marling and William Mapother were truly excellent. The story is quite heart rending at times and they prove very capable of taking the audience through the whole gamut of emotions. On the technical side; it was well made; but obviously on a budget. I did like the way the other earth was always visible from America though; looming larger as time passed. More of a drama that uses science fiction as a device, it’s certainly not one for hardcore Sci-Fi fans, but I must admit I did enjoy it. There were a couple of things in the relationship I wasn’t entirely convinced by, but nonetheless a worthy watch.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 7.9/10.

IMDb Score: 7.0/10 (based on 33,167 votes when this review was written).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1549572/

MetaScore: 66/100: (Based on 33 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 64/100 (based on 121 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 67/100 (based on 15,479 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/another_earth/

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FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Rhoda Williams: I saw this image when I was a kid. The photograph of Jupiter taken by NASA's Voyager. Beautiful. But nothing special until shown in rapid succession. Suddenly Jupiter was alive. Breathing. I was hypnotized.

John's Son: What rhymes with "light"?
John Burroughs: "Light"?
Maya Burroughs: Oh, that's a good one.
[Loud crash]

Rhoda Williams: When early explorers first set out West across the Atlantic, most people thought the world was flat. Most people thought if you sailed far enough West, you would drop off a plane into nothing. Those vessels sailing out into the unknown, they weren't carrying noblemen or aristocrats, artists or merchants. They were crewed by people living on the edge of life: the madmen, orphans, ex-convicts, outcasts like myself. As a felon, I'm an unlikely candidate for most things. But perhaps not for this. Perhaps I am the most likely.

Rhoda Williams: If you met yourself, what would you say?
John Burroughs: Hey, you up for a video game? Probably beat me. What would you say?
Rhoda Williams: Better luck next time.

Purdeep: Listen to me. Keep your mind clear. And that's it. You will have peace of mind. My dear, don't worry. Learn to adjust yourself.

Rhoda Williams: You know that story of the Russian cosmonaut? So, the cosmonaut, He's the first man ever to go into space. Right? The Russians beat the Americans. So he goes up in this big spaceship, but the only habitable part of it's very small. So the cosmonaut's in there, and he's got this portal window, and he's looking out of it, and he sees the curvature of the Earth for the first time. I mean, the first man to ever look at the planet he's from. And he's lost in that moment. And all of a sudden this strange ticking... Begins coming out of the dashboard. Rips out the control panel, right? Takes out his tools. Trying to find the sound, trying to stop the sound. But he can't find it. He can't stop it. It keeps going. Few hours into this, begins to feel like torture. A few days go by with this sound, and he knows that this small sound... will break him. He'll lose his mind. What's he gonna do? He's up in space, alone, in a space closet. He's got 25 days left to go... with this sound. So the cosmonaut decides... the only way to save his sanity... is to fall in love with this sound. So he closes his eyes... and he goes into his imagination, and then he opens them. He doesn't hear ticking anymore. He hears music. And he spends the sailing through space in total bliss... and peace.

LINKS:
(NOTE: All links were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/anotherearth/
Trailer: (NOTE: Gives away more that I do above)