‘Tomorrow’ plot melts under warming of special effects

You know the summer movie season has arrived when a gigantic disaster

flick with stupendous special effects arrives in theaters on a

holiday weekend. This year, there’s no doubt that “The Day After

Tomorrow” is the A-list candidate for that honor. It has

mind-boggling computer graphics that will have you squirming in your

seat as America’s major cities are devastated by the forces of nature

run amok.

Director Ron Emmerich has lots of experience in the massive

destruction genre with “Independence Day” and “Godzilla” already

under his belt. His latest effort takes phenomenal special effects to

a new level that will astonish anyone in the audience.

In this film, the consequences of global warming begin to destroy

the northern hemisphere. The Wall Street canyons of New York are

flooded with seawater that freezes to Antarctic temperatures.

Downtown Los Angeles is destroyed by tornadoes in thunderous detail.

These many eye-popping scenes are worth the price of admission all by

themselves.

That’s a good thing, since silly science and cornball dialogue

also abound in this big-budget Hollywood formula. Cliches from dozens

of disaster films are endlessly repeated. Political authorities

ignore the impassioned pleas of a renegade scientist played with

earnest appeal by Dennis Quaid. When his predictions start coming

true, the authorities cling to their stupid denials until the

situation demands the obvious response.

There’s a little political satire added by having the president

and vice president on screen closely resemble our current leaders. To

be sure, there’s lame dialogue and a familiar formula in this

picture. But the awesome spectacle and visual impact of the facts on

the ground in this story make it worthy of being seen on the big

screen.

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.

‘Saved’ by zinging story more than faith

“I’ve been born again since I was born!” Mary said as she begins

her story of her senior year at the American Eagle Christian Academy

in “Saved!” a sometimes goofy teen high school flick that aims some

real zingers at the pop-culture aspects of contemporary Christian

society.

Raised by her bubbly, “Christian Interior Decorator of the Year”

mom Lillian (Mary Louise Parker), Mary (Jena Malone) is a happy,

cheerful girl who is stunned one summer day when her boyfriend Dean

confides to her he may be gay.

In her shock, Mary believes she has a vision from Jesus telling

her how to help “cure” him -- by sacrificing her virginity. But weeks

later, Mary finds herself pregnant, and Dean is sent to Mercy House

(a sort of rehab for wayward Christians) by his parents for

“de-gayification.”

Mary manages to conceal her pregnancy from her best friend,

over-zealous teen queen Hillary Faye (Mandy Moore), from her mom,

even from Pastor Skip (Martin Donovan), who giddily encourages the

students to “get jiggy with Christ!” To confuse matters, Mary’s mom

may be starting an affair with Pastor Skip, and his skateboarding

son, Patrick (Patrick Fugit), has an eye for Mary.

No high school is complete without its misfits, defined here as

wheelchair-bound Roland (Macaulay Culkin), Hillary Faye’s brother;

Tia, who desperately wants to be part of the “in” clique; and Cassie,

the “bad girl” who just transferred in after getting kicked out of

another school -- and happens to be Jewish.

When Mary’s pregnancy is finally revealed, she discovers who her

true friends are and reexamines the meaning of Christian values.

Although the gleeful sarcasm of the first half of the film gets

watered down by the time we get to the big prom night scene, there is

plenty to admire here in first-time director and co-writer Brian

Danelly’s effort.

The cast is talented and obviously having fun, especially Mandy

Moore, who makes a terrific “mean girl.” Newcomer Eva Amurri

(daughter of Susan Sarandon) is the wickedly funny Cassie and shows a

promising career ahead.

There is some controversy, to be sure, over a film that would dare

to mock religion. While neither as subversive nor hilarious as “Monty

Python’s Life of Brian,” I would hope no one would be seriously

offended by a movie like “Saved!” where the importance of tolerance

and compassion are upheld in a gentle manner.

* SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant

for a financial services company.