Arrival

The 434th film I have seen in theaters…

A smart SciFi movie, brilliantly constructed, and well cast. 

All across the world, 12 Alien ships hover, silently, as the people of Earth freak out. The Military puts together a team of scientists to enter one of the ships in an attempt to communicate with the aliens. A linguist, Amy Adams, cracks the code to understand what the visitors are, and why they are here.

An always amazing Amy Adams (alliteration ftw) performance is the highlight of this movie. She gets better with each film, her ability to reach the very core of her characters is something to behold. She plays Louise, the linguist.

Jeremy Renner plays the Physicist guy on the team. He sees something in Louise and stands beside her as she tries to crack the alien language.

Forest Whitaker plays the General in command of the mission. This man could bring gravitas to a toilet cleaner commercial.

Simply, or perhaps not so simply, a near perfect sci-fi film. The performances were moving. The story was interesting. The editing and structure of this movie might be the real star though. As Louise deciphers the alien language, her very concept of self and time begin to fracture. The structure of the screenplay reflects this in amazing fashion. The movie is pure gold. Go see it.