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Steven Spielberg is to alien stories what peanut butter is to chocolate: you don't question how or why they go so well together; they just do. Granted, in this case, it likely has more to do with Spielberg's natural talent as a storyteller, but it's telling how it seems to feel extraordinary when aliens are involved. But, not even the greatest among us are immune to the occasional misstep in an otherwise perfect formula. Because when you've been making the mixture for long enough, it can be very noticeable when something is missing.
Spielberg's latest offering, Disclosure Day, is a film that has all of the pleasantly expected elements of what makes his movies so fascinating, and might have become a well-earned new feather in his cap, were it not for a few overused creative choices, along with an ending (which I will not spoil) that might have worked had they shaved off the last thirty seconds, at least. While the film retains the majority of its charm thanks to Spielberg's magic, it's becoming unfortunately obvious that the magic is fading.
The story follows a man named Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor), who has stolen some sensitive material from a secret organization he used to work for. Daniel is attempting to deliver the material to his friend, Hugo (Colman Domingo), who is putting into motion a plan to reveal secrets that have been kept hidden away for far too long. At the same time, a weather forecaster named Margret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), suddenly begins demonstrating unusual abilities, and finds herself drawn into the situation with Daniel and Hugo. All the while being relentlessly chased down by the secret organization, led by a cold and calculating man named Noah (Colin Firth), who is hellbent on stopping these strangers from doing something that, according to him, could upend the entire world as we know it. What knowledge to these people have that could be so dangerous if the rest of the world knew about it? I mean, yes, we all know it's aliens, but still! 😂
As a whole, the film is as polished and well-crafted as you would expect from a Spielberg presentation: it has a charm that can't be easily matched or replicated, it features beautifully choreographed single-shot scenes with energetic performances to boot, and it plays with emotional concepts without feeling preachy or cheesy (well, to an extent, at least).
The MVP award goes straight to Emily Blunt, who delivers what may very well be her best performance yet! She delivers so much energy, so much commitment, and so many what-the-heck-just-happened moments throughout the film, that she practically carries the whole movie on her shoulders! If someone in the theater world wrote a one-woman play just for her, not only would I not be surprised; I would be first in line to go see it!
Unfortunately, all of these beautifully crafted elements are somewhat bogged down by a few creative choices, specifically with the cinematography, that continues to rub me the wrong way, and feel counterintuitive to the story presented.
The film was photographed by Janusz Kaminski, who has been Spielberg's cinematographer since 1993. While the man boasts an incredibly impressive resumé in both filmography and photographic style, it's becoming apparent just how one-note he really is. Nearly every single film photographed by Kaminski, even those not directed by Spielberg, all feature the same kind of lighting effects and camera tricks; giving the impression that he's less concerned with what style best suits the story, and more interested in flashing as many lights directly into the lens as possible. All of this, along with an overly-used undersaturated color palette, feels more distracting and doesn't serve the story as well as it should. Yes, it all looks pretty cool, but it doesn't feel like it belongs in this particular narrative. It's the same issue I had with the movie The Post, another Spielberg & Kaminski collaboration; a film about journalists in the 1970's uncovering secrets about the Vietnam war should not look like a glossy WW2 drama!
And then there's the ending, or at least the last thirty seconds! While I will keep my promise to not spoil anything, I will say that it feels like Spielberg baked a perfect chocolate cake, then successfully carried it to the top of a treacherous mountain, only for him to raise the cake over his head in victory, loose his grip, and drop the cake onto the dirty ground, completely killing the moment and robbing everyone of its deliciousness! It's not quite anti-climactic, but it certainly feels that way.
Disclosure Day is a film that does enough things right to warrant a curious watch, but fails at everything else to justify ever watching it again. While Emily Blunt deserves all the praise for her performance, and Spielberg's charm is still mostly intact, this experience was a greater disappointment than I could have possibly predicted. I am still glad I watched it, and I do appreciate many of its good qualities (especially its use of animal symbolism), but sadly, despite all the prestige behind it, the old magic is fading. Hopefully, it will be revived and passed on to another worthy creative, but until then, the old guards need to stop while they're ahead.
Watch only for Emily Blunt's powerful performance, and not much else.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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