Political motivation only thing running convincingly amuck in disaster epic

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
20th Century Fox presents a Roland Emmerich film, starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal. Written by Emmerich and Jeffrey Nachmanoff.

2 stars

In election years, critics of all cultural expressions have their antennae up for any marinating of political philosophy into otherwise benign efforts.

“The Day After Tomorrow” probably doesn’t strike the casual viewer as an opportunity to denounce the current administration like a documentary such as “Fahrenheit 9/11.” But Roland Emmerich isn’t above tossing in a few pointed jabs at the states’ dogged refusal to be an environmentally-friendly nation in his newest $125 million eco-flick.

Perhaps the film’s greatest sin is one often caused by these big-budget disaster films - of which Emmerich is responsible for “Godzilla” and “Independence Day.” Filmmakers once again presume audiences aren’t interested in a layered plot and dynamic characters; instead they throw millions of dollars worth of special effects at their patrons, hoping we won’t notice the flim-flam execution of the storyline.

They’re also adept at throwing mounds of scientific jargon at us, in hopes we won’t actually stop to consider if it all makes sense. Enter paleo-climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) who informs a room full of United Nations delegates that the “polar ice caps melting might disrupt the mid-Atlantic current” causing great shifts in climate. Later, he informs a group of oceanographers that major bodies of water have gained “too much freshwater” because of the aforementioned polar ice caps, leading to a - wait for it, wait for it - “critical desalinization point.”

Meanwhile, a vice president with a striking resemblance to Dick Cheney rebukes Hall’s insights, first denouncing the entire Kyoto Accord and then regurgitating the Bushian viewpoint that the economy is more important than the environment. The payment for his capitalistic sins? Hall grimly predicts everyone below West Virginia will encounter temperatures near negative 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Despite warnings from Mother Nature in the form of head-splitting hail in Tokyo and multiple, simultaneous tornados in Los Angeles, the Bush, ahem, fictional administration refuses to believe Hall’s weather forecasting models.

Meanwhile, Jack has ignored his own good advice to stay indoors and plans a trek out to reunite with his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who was on a school expedition in Manhattan and is now burning the contents of the New York Public Library to stay alive. All heat not generated by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche comes from tacked-on love interest Laura Chapman (Emmy Rossum). A third subplot - involving Dr. Lucy Hall, mother of Sam and wife of Jack - is added merely to break up scenes of helicopter pilots freezing in mid-step after their planes are downed by the negative triple-digit weather.

In fact, Emmerich has a whole slate of minor characters he dashes into the disaster stew, all in an effort to humanize a completely CGI-laden experience. The effects are not unlike ones we’ve witnessed dozens of times before, in movies like “Twister,” “Dante’s Peak,” “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon.” Absent of any real plot, this film is only really for those interested in a screenwriter’s interpretation of our environmental woes and Al Gore, who has reportedly given the movie the thumbs up.

Not surprising. After all the mocking done of the current people of power, it’s a wonder why the movie just didn’t cut their losses and have Quaid come to the foreground to deliver one more important speech.

“Vote Kerry or we’ll all going to die.”