INDEPENDENCE DAY (44)

Directed by: Roland Emmerich

Starring: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum

The Pitch: Aliens zap Earth; we fight back.

Theo Sez: A film that defies analysis, not just because it's so phenomenally popular but also - even more so - because it's so determined not to be taken seriously, not even to be exciting - indeed, not to connect emotionally in any way. The initially welcome jokiness (like Angelenos being warned not to fire their guns at the spaceships - "You could set off an interstellar war!") becomes by the end a relentlessly flippant attitude that's like a mix of good-natured laziness and a small child's idea of post-modernism. It doesn't really matter, both because it's too unassuming (and too old-fashioned) to feel much like post-modernism and because its casual air of enthusiastic amateurism is perfect for this plot, in which a group of enthusiastic amateurs save the planet from destruction. It's actually a very 90s blockbuster - back-to-basics, unpretentious, environmentally aware, racially and sexually diverse, and quite alarmingly touchy-feely. If there's a theme to it all it's perhaps acceptance, our decade's favourite mantra: the old Jew accepts his son, Will Smith accepts commitment - and we, the audience, uncomplainingly accept mediocrity as entertainment. It's easy to forget, amid the warm glow of cute jokes and sunny optimism, that crowd-pleasers can also (like CRIMSON TIDE) be passionate, fiercely intelligent, and emotionally draining.