Sphere

An empty shell.

Three major stars being involved, it all wraps up happily but implausibly.

The ending, though emotionally satisfying, collapses under scrutiny. This lack of payoff is a real flaw in a film pitched to a discriminating sci-fi mentality.

Given its situational premise -- outer space goes underwater -- Sphere is filled with visual potential, yet Levinson can't tap it. He's just a whole lot more comfortable trying to tame the human software than the technical hardware.

As the umpteenth entrant in the We-Are-Not-Alone sweepstakes, Sphere feels awfully familiar because it is.

Somewhere out there, maybe there's a small cadre of film-goers who will appreciate Sphere's dubious charms, but I'm not among them.

The central idea for Sphere is an intriguing one, but similar concepts have been much better executed on episodes of Star Trek, which makes one wonder why movie writing is allowed to be so bad.

Word 'pointless' is the one that should be attributed to this whole film, one of the worst to come from Hollywood in past decade and one that would test patience and temper of the audience like few others.

Let's face facts: Michael Crichton is a hack. He comes up with innovative concepts, but his characters are cardboard cutouts. Given the psychological foundations of the story, that's an egregious flaw, and the ending is absurdly dissatisfying.

If you want a better sci-fi film go see Dark City. A better Levinson movie? Try Wag the Dog.

Packaged as a smart psychological drama, it gradually dissolves into a badly edited action thriller, albeit one obscured by a cast of top notch talent.

For a movie of a novel written by Michael Crichton with such a capable cast, Sphere is quite a disappointment.