Soporific Solaris

If there's one piece of advice that will contextualize the entirety of Solaris for you, it's this: Bring a watch. Because you will leave the theater swearing on George Clooney's oft-bared body that the film lasted more than the 95 minutes its publicists claim. There are literally full minutes between lines of dialogue, minutes in which we do nothing but gaze at the characters' faces, which are clearly showing a lot more tension than we're feeling.

Solaris centers about the efforts of psychologist Chris Kelvin (Clooney) to salvage the crew of a space station orbiting the planet which is the movie's namesake. Following the suicide of their captain Gibarian (Ulrich Tukur), crew members Gordon (Viola Davis) and Snow (Jeremy Davies) have locked themselves in their respective quarters and refused to return to Earth. Kelvin's investigation is compromised by the sudden appearance of his wife, Rheya (Natascha McElhone), who, as far as he knows, killed herself several years ago.

Coming into a movie produced by James "Gigantic Epic or Bust" Cameron and directed by Steven "I Am My Own Worst Enemy" Soderbergh, you might reasonably expect some level of suspense or at least some pyrotechnics. But the fact that three out of Soderbergh's last four films have been remakes (the original Solaris was a 1972 film by Soviet Andrei Tarkovsky) is indicative of a piece of information that's borne out by Solaris: Oscar contender extraordinaire Soderbergh has clearly run out of ideas.The fact is that, even clocking it at less than half the running time of its predecessor, Solaris suffers from a type of pacing that could charitably be termed "unforced." A better adjective might be "glacial." In some ways, Solaris is reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, at least in its emphasis on ideas over action. But what Stanley Kubrick understood (which Soderbergh overlooks) is that if you're going to make the characters a key part of your narrative, you have to teach them the difference between subdued and catatonic.

Clooney stars in a movie that, while not exactly risqué, is atypical. He lends Solaris its much-needed fuel with his effective portrayal of a troubled husband. The love between Rheya and Kelvin, exposed through a sequence of brief flashbacks, is convincing, if somewhat monotonous, and the ambience of the film, primarily conveyed through CGI-generated images of the space station's surroundings, is stunning. But the high point of the film is Davies, whose slightly stoned interpretation of Snow is both entertaining and poignant.

Solaris could easily be the most thought-provoking meditation on memory and guilt of 2002. But the key word here is meditation: Solaris can be hypnotic if you're interested in that blend of psychological thriller and love story, but it honestly depends on your ability to handle slowness, silence and a somnambulant pace.

Solaris (120 min) is rated PG-13 for sexuality/nudity, brief language and thematic elements. Visit the official website at www.solaristhemovie.com.