I’m still befuddled about a couple of things about “The Day After Tomorrow.” Not the pseudo-science, mind you, because I can always suspend disbelief on that front. I’m actually obsessing about a couple of things on the fringes:
1. So, Sela Ward’s character, the saintly ex-wife, gets to throw in a few gentle barbs about her former hubby’s workaholism. Because she, as a pediatric oncologist, surely doesn’t know anything about long hours, excessive dedication to one’s work, etc. Nope. Nothing is a more convenient career for a dedicated parent than an extremely complicated medical specialty that demands fierce emotional commitment to desperately ill children. Sure, Sela. And, while I’m at it, Sela was better in those long distance commercials than she was here. Was Rene Russo busy?
2. I’m not one of those people to decry Jake Gyllenhaal’s foray into the blockbuster. If he gets tired of dimly lit indy fare and wants to flee from CGI timber wolves on a derelict Russian cargo ship, more power to him. What I do decry is the suggestion that he looks anything like a high school student. Any credit the casting agent might have gotten for giving Dennis Quaid an age-appropriate ex-wife is squandered on passing off this 30-year-old as a teen. Maybe that’s why his character does so well in school. He’s been a senior for 13 years. (On an unrelated note, I was delighted to see Jake’s indie princess sibling, Maggie, in the truly craptacular “Mona Lisa Smile.” While her role was thankless, at least she didn’t seem to think she was doing Ibsen. I’m looking at you, remarkably realistic android Julia Stiles.)
I’m looking forward to seeing what Alfonso Cuarón does with the next “Harry Potter” movie. When comparing director credits, “Y Tu Mamá También” sure beats the heck out of “Home Alone.”