Rating: 
Summary: Go see "The Ring" instead.
Review: I was a bit reluctant to see Solaris when I found out its length was barely over an hour and a half. Dramas and psychological science fiction/romance movies need more time to develop plot and characters than a mere 90 minutes, and this movie proved that fact to be true. What's worse, the action moved immeasurably slowly and lacked any real resolution, leaving very little to reflect back upon. The plot was really simplistic but revealed in a convoluted mesh of bits and pieces of information in an effort to heighten the sense of unease predominant in the feature. Nothing about the story is original, and the major themes revolving around dreams and death are already overused in other films. And in the few times that the plot decides to pick up pace, the story is arced into flashbacks, which occur much too often and slow down any sense of progression. I was hoping for a dramatic conclusion or perhaps a well-placed plot twist to finish off the story, but the climax itself was told in a flashback. The two stars I give this movie come from the filmmaking and the acting. Steven Soderbergh is a terrific director, as proven by his other films, and he delivers his usual interesting performance. However, being that there is very little action itself in the movie, his attempts at continuously finding original and dynamic lighting and camera angles eventually become a bit stale. All of the scenes in the present time of the story take place in a very small space station, most of which are in an even smaller (and very lackluster) bedroom. But Soderbergh did the best with what he had to work with. The other star goes to the acting; even though I don't particularly like Clooney, his chemistry with the female lead is pretty good, if not stellar. The intensity of some of the scenes comes from their performances. But seriously though, the acting and directing don't make a bad story good. And you see George Clooney's ass. Twice. On screen for a long time. Do not subject yourself to this torture and go see a truly mind-bending horror, The Ring, instead.
Rating: 
Summary: The best Sci-Fi film in years!
Review: I love Sci-Fi films--let me correct that--I used to love Sci-fi films. Most films in the Sci-Fi genre have the same sort of plot (and there are allowable variations here)--a distress signal is received from a planet or a spaceship, so a load of idiots go to investigate. They arrive at the destination--they can find no living survivors--just blood and signs that everyone left in a hurry. But then, the rescue team gets picked off one by one by the aliens (who've usually taken over the bodies of the missing humans). It all gets very predictable after a while. I really had given up expecting to see decent Sci-Fi, and then I went to see "Solaris."Psychologist, Chris Kelvin, is asked to go on a mission to a space station orbiting the planet, Solaris. There has been no radio contact with the crew on the space station--except a cryptic transmission from one of the crew members requesting Kelvin's help. Chris (played by George Clooney) arrives on the space station and sees blood everywhere. Clooney manages to convey fear while he seems to remain calm, and he begins to go about his task of discovering what happened on the space station. As Kelvin tries to unravel the mystery of the events that took place on the space station, he hangs on desperately to his knowledge of science and reality, but exactly what constitutes reality becomes questionable as Kelvin faces his past through a visitor who is manufactured from his own memories. Jeremy Davies as Snow, one of the space station crew members, is amazing. Natascha McElhone is simultaneously vampish and ephemeral as Kelvin's wife. I really enjoy Soderbergh films--I think he takes chances which usually pay off in the final product. "Solaris" is thought-provoking, visually perfect, and extremely well-acted. This was the best Sci-Fi film I've seen in decades.
Rating: 
Summary: Surreal film with sci-fi backdrop
Review: I saw the film on the strength of Roger Ebert's recommendation. The only warning I would give is that the action is mostly psychological, through various devices where characters flip back and forth while remembering events. So if you are looking for a traditional action or scifi film, this is not it. Especially effective is the use of specific shades of color to show changes in settings. A beautiful, thoughtful film that is about as far as you can get from another entertaining film by Soderbergh & Clooney, Ocean's Eleven.
Rating: 
Summary: A very stylish film that drags at times
Review: This movie is beautiful to look at - many shots of the wispy, purple and red planet Solaris, a lot of views of clean, quiet spaceship corridors (usually almost empty), some striking visual effects that convey the flashback scenes, etc. The filmmakers should also be commended for avoiding the temptation to turn the movie Solaris into a conventional sci-fi thriller. (There were many points where it could have turned that direction.) Instead, it turns out to be a meditation on the meaning of existence. The problem with Solaris is the glacial pace at which the story progresses. There are far too many scenes where the characters all just standing around, not saying anything to each other, not doing anything -- just silence on the screen. I'm sure that was an intentional part of the director's approach, but it makes the movie boring at times. I do want to express appreciation for the many small nods to the sci-fi classic "2001." That was one fun element to Solaris (one of few), looking for all of the little homages to "2001" sprinkled throughout the film.
Rating: 
Summary: I've had less painful root canals done.
Review: In all do respect i always loved Rosemary Clooney. She had talent, style, grace, and everything else inbetween. I admired her all my life but why did she think that her want-to-be actor relative George had any talent? What do people see in him?I'm gay and i find him to be a sexless person and his acting is even worse. Please don't tell me he came from the stage because those people have talent.The movie itself is troubling enough. It's stupid, it was like watching an eposode of "the outter limits". Most of the film was so bad that i thought maybe this should be a comedy and once i looked at it as a comedy the film was more bareable to watch. But seriously, what was the plot, what was the purpose? How drugged out were these Hollywood people when they made this. The trailers for this film were alot better than the film itself. It sold itself on a serious notion of "what if." But your in for a "what if" of a disappoinment. If you pay for than a dollar to see this film you got robbed!
Rating:
Summary: Not a great idea to make this kind of movie
Review: I think you need to understand and love Andrey Trkowski's ideas and then make a movie. It was the most stupid idea for an American director to do it. He doesn's understand it himself, so how he can lead his actor's team. J.Klooney was worried about his reputation as an actor. And he was right.
This movie is a looser.
Rating:
Summary: This really looks like Fish Food....
Review: Through some friends in the movie business, I was able to see an adavance screening of this movie, and belive me it is nothing special. It is almost like a cross between the Outer Limits and the movie, Vanilla Sky, however about ten times worse, and George Clooney makes this movie about as watchable as going to the laundry mat to watch the clothes go through all the cleaning cycles.
Rating:
Summary: Is there anything good about this movie? Not Really.
Review: Solaris is a sci-fi, futuristic, romantic existentialist flick that tries to challenge the audience and the main character's (George Clooney as Dr. Chris Kelvin) ideas about life, death, heaven, reincarnation and life after death. It is wonderful goal for a film to have, but it was a noble plan that failed horribly. Dr. Kelvin is a therapist sent to a space station that is orbiting the planet Solaris. He is supposed to find out why the remaining crew won't come home. Or is he there to figure out why most of the crew was murdered? Or did they commit suicide? Actually, I'm not sure why he is sent there. Solaris creates facsimiles of the crew's dearly departed, mainly Kelvin's late wife, from their memories. I am not sure why the planet Solaris is doing it and neither does the crew. I'm not sure why many things are happening in this movie. The plot isn't too convoluted to be followed. There just isn't any plot at all. The best part of this movie was seeing George Clooney naked-not once, but twice. My favorite nude shot was of Kelvin and his wife sharing a bowl of Ramen noodles in all their post-coital glory. (Clooney is proof that people can look better as they get older!) Clooney also does a great job of doing that charming, soulful, caring, subtly sexy thing he does so well. He perfected it in the other Steven Soderbergh movie he starred in-the wonderfully subtle and sexy Out of Sight. In fact, the flashbacks in Solaris are very reminiscent of the hotel and love scenes between Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight. There's a feeling of invading on someone's intimate moment and memory. With all that, the movie was a colossal waste of time. Wait for it to come on television. Better yet, just rent Out of Sight.
Rating:
Summary: Sacrilege!!!!!!
Review: ...Standing alone, this film isn't horrible. Had I never seen Tarkovsky's adaptation, I probably would have given the 'movie' a 6 out of 10. It has a great story, with a lot of potential to become a great 'film', and even though it has a great deal of problems, it still almost poses some decent questions. However there are some serious problems, and there are a few very annoying aspects to this movie. Problems. Soderbergh's vision seems a bit sloppy. I understand the jumps in the continuity (thematically: "no memory of how I got here") and it could work, if it actually built up to something, but, of course, it doesn't (and will probably be more than a bit annoying to most audience members [right around the point where it cuts to the interview of Dr. Gordon]). The choice to shoot George Clooney's backside several times is a bit odd, considering the flashbacks occur when he is dreaming them...On the subject of a lack of creativity, lets get to the moments in the movie that are very reminiscent of other films. The docking sequence and the scene where Kelvin is trying to stay awake both resemble Kubrick's "2001." The docking sequence is obviously similar in the way it is shot, and the 'staying awake' scene has very similar music to Dave's pod journey beyond the infinite. You know, that kind of music that gives you a vibratey feelin' all through your guttywoods? The way Natasha McElhone is shot by Soderbergh reminds one of Tarkovsky's film. The choice to let Clooney open his mouth during a dramatic scene also tends to be pretty sloppy (Rheya's first appearance). That's enough on the direction. As far as the acting goes. Jeremy Davies' role as comic relief is a bit annoying, and it seems like he's now a quirky typecast (though I enjoyed "Million Dollar Hotel"). Viola Davis seems pretty one-dimensional: angry. Natasha McElhone is only given about 3 lines of import in the film. George Clooney? Moving on... Writing? Was Soderbergh watching MTV's "Undressed" when writing the scene where all 4 main characters have a meeting? - because it plays out like Middle School relationship drama. Tarkovsky's film is slow, engaging, thought provoking, visually stunning, brilliant, etc... Soderberg's movie is just slow, and it felt much longer than the original (though it is 2/3 the length...
Rating:
Summary: Get Ready for Something Different...
Review: I saw this movie at a screening last night and I am sorry to say that a lot of people left the theater disappointed. I loved it and highly reccomend it if you want something different. This is much better than the usual trite fare at the movies- especially better than what usually passes for science fiction at the movies-, it's a movie that thinks, a movie that asks questions and doesn't answer them for you. If you go open to it, you won't be disappointed and you won't leave without being mentally stimulated.
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