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"'Earth'
Bound"
by Scott Mantz
"Here on Earth"
Chris Klein, Leelee Sobieski
Directed by Mark Piznarski
Every generation
has it's own great tragic love story, from Romeo and Juliet to Tommy
Lee and Pamela Anderson, and what would any great love story be
without a box of hankies? Some films that immediately come to mind
are 1970's appropriately named "Love Story" and, more recently,
"The Bridges of Madison County". It's been a while since that film,
so the time was right for a new entry to the genre, especially one
that's aimed directly at the teen market. Here's an audience that's
hungry for a sappy romance with a dapper young cast, but unfortunately,
"Here on Earth" isn't the one to fit the bill. While it's charm
lies in the charismatic talent of it's leads, a weak storyline and
less-than-engaging dialogue make this a tragedy in more ways than
one. About the only thing happy about this ending was the fact that
it ended at all.
Snobby prep
student Kelley (Chris Klein) is days away from graduation. About
the only thing for him to do in this boring small town is pick fights
with Jasper (Josh Harnett), a blue collar townie who's dating Samantha
(Leelee Sobieski). When a drag race between Kelley and Jasper ends
in the destruction of the diner owned by Samantha's family, their
sentence is to help rebuild the diner. Since Kelley was expelled
from school and has no place to live, he has no choice but to shack
up with Jasper's family (how convenient). As if that didn't make
for a tense environment, Kelley and Samantha fall for each other,
much to the detest of Jasper. But wait, there's more! Just as Kelley
and Samantha's romance begins to blossom, Samantha reveals that
she has cancer--and it's spreading. Kelley is forced to re-evaluate
his priorities and look into his heart as his feelings for Samantha
grow even stronger.
Chris Klein
and Leelee Sobieski are both accomplished young actors with memorable
roles to their credit ("Election" and "American Pie" for him, "Never
Been Kissed", "Eyes Wide Shut", and TV's "Joan of Arc" for her).
The problem is that while the weight of the story begs for the type
of human drama that both are clearly up for, the execution doesn't
give them much to work with. Klein is waiting to break out into
a memorable scene that never comes, and his character suffers at
the derivative and trite storytelling. Sobieski is clearly too mature
for her own good, but she is engaging as the lovelorn and doomed
damsel who's fortunate enough to have known true love, even if it's
for a short period of time.
The rest of
the cast become victims to the same pratfalls that bring down the
rest of the film, but they are otherwise strong as supporting players.
Josh Harnett is torn between losing the woman he loves to another
man or alienating her completely with his jealousy. There is clearly
a rivalry between Harnett and Klein, and once Klein is invited to
stay with Harnett's family, the tension understandably increases.
However, once Sobieski professes her love for Klein, Harnett falls
by the wayside without putting up much of a fight, decreasing the
dramatic potential for an even more powerful climax. That said,
Bruce Greenwood, Annette O'Toole, Michael Rooker, Betsy Arnold,
and Stuart Wilson still put in fine performances as the parents
of the romantic trio.
While "Here
on Earth" is clearly not the film it set out to be, it's message
still rings loud and clear. Life is short--too short. If we ever
get the chance to experience true love, then we need to seize the
opportunity and damn the consequences. It may be better to have
loved and lost then to never have loved at all, but at least we'll
treasure those moments and look here on Earth for the chance to
feel it again.
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