Dark Matter (2007/I)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Shi-Zheng Chen

Writers:

Shi-Zheng Chen (story) and
Billy Shebar (story) ...

Release Date:

24 April 2008 (Singapore)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Based on actual events, a Chinese university student responds violently when his chances for a Nobel Prize are dashed by school politics.

Plot Keywords:

Student | University | Theory | Chinese | Universe

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Ye Liu	...	Liu Xing
Meryl Streep	...	Joanna Silver
Aidan Quinn	...	Reiser
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sina Amedson	...	Selim
Erick Avari	...	R.K. Gazda
Blair Brown	...	Hildy
Rob Campbell	...	Small
Dan Christensen	...	Professor
Jeshua De Horta	...	Student
Joe Grifasi	...	Colby
Bill Irwin	...	Herb
Krystal King	...	Girl / one night stand
Boris McGiver	...	Reverend Hollings
John Rothman	...	Rene
Jodi Russell	...	Claire
Taylor Schilling	...	Jackie
Lloyd Suh	...	Laurence Feng
Tisha Vaculin	...	Waitress
He Yu	...	Wu

MPAA:

Rated R for a scene of violence, brief sexual content and language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-13 | Argentina:18 | Mexico:B15 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Orem, Utah, USA

Company:

Saltmill

Trivia:

Inspired by a true story, the film follows the life of Liu Xing, a Chinese academic studying in America who gets caught up in campus politics.

not bad, try again please

I watched this with several friends and it was interesting to see who was surprised by the ending and who wasn't. Let there be no doubt, there is a great subject for a plot here. Forget that its based on a true story because its not - that's just marketing and fodder for pointless forum discussions.

What really hurt this movie were the pointless special effects and overly exaggerated sentimental shots, mostly featuring Meryl Streep, interspersed throughout the movie - typically after a scene where the protagonist experiences success or failure. There are only a handful of these shots and they only last seconds – but they are schmaltzy in an otherwise very believable movie. If you're watching even somewhat closely, they give away the movie very quickly.

I'll bet Shi-Zheng Chen goes on eventually to make a truly great movie. This one is about half way there.