If there’s one thing that I hate, even more than a bad film, it’s a movie that doesn’t assume itself. Like, this film is pretty much a big budget excuse to display special FX of a meteor destroying a big part of America. But for some reason, instead of playing it like it is, director Mimi Leder tries to make a “good” film by putting scene after scene of corny emotion, as if she thought that would be enough to get her a truck load of Oscars. Come on! At least, “ID4” didn’t try to be much more than an aliens/disaster flick, you know, a good ole popcorn movie. In “Deep Impact”, you always feel that Leder is trying to make you weep.

It’s not like they couldn’t have made a good flick. The FX budget is huge, Leder has talent (her 1997’s “The Peacemaker” is superior to most recent action films), and the cast is impressive. And, heck, the plot could have been fun: it’s about a meteor heading for Earth. Ain’t much of a story, but still. Unfortunately, this is turned into an overlong borefest of pointless scenes starring cardboard characters. The idea is to show what would happen if Earth’s end was announced a year in advance, you know, how people would react. Elijah Wood plays a sensitive geek who discovers the meteor. Yeah right, no scientist saw anything, but that kid did! His part is centered on his undying love for his apple pie girlfriend (Leelee Sobieski), as he tries to pull a Leonardo by tentatively sacrificing himself for her. Then there’s the titillating Tea Leoni as a no-talent newscaster who becomes the Voice of America because she met the President, portrayed by… Morgan Freeman!?! A Black President? What year is that, 2198? At the same time, Tea also tries to reunite her parents because… I dunno. The other subplot is about an old as hell astronaut played by Bobby Duvall who goes into space to try to nuke the meteor. He leads a team of young and oh-so-cool dudes, including Jon Favreau. I love Favreau, but his character is way boring, like Vince Vaughn’s in “The Lost World”.

Okay, so this film is a corny melodrama that doesn’t work, but even as a disaster movie it’s awful. It’s the end of the world and no one does anything! I mean, if I knew I would be annihilated in an hour, I wouldn’t keep working like the people in this dud! Don’t waste your time with this pointless movie.