In addition to its obvious relevance to
some important and up-to-date scientific issues, Godsend owes as much to Mary Shelley’s grand Gothic novel Frankenstein — and a century of its
proliferating cinematic progeny — as to today’s headlines.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย While
the new movie deals with a controversial contemporary subject, human cloning,
it also depends upon a long and ghoulish history of reconstituting a human
being, of creating life from the harvest of death. At the same time that it
alludes to those scientists testing the limits of the possible in their
laboratories, it also recalls the doomed Faustian dreams of the eponymous
Victor Frankenstein.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย That
combination of an ancient history and a timely subject provides the chief
source of narrative energy in a film that never really develops the potential
it initially promises. Although it now and then pays lip service to the legal,
ethical, and moral dilemmas posed by today’s advances in biotechnology, Godsend generally dissipates its
intellectual substance in some of the familiar nonsense of the horror flick and
retreats from its emotional problems into mere melodrama.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
movie also, however, demonstrates once again the sensitivity of popular film to
the currents of the culture, its tendency to reflect in some way the subjects
that haunt the national psyche.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In
the film, Paul and Jessie Duncan (Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos),
suffer the worst tragedy that can befall a parent, the death of a child, their
eight-year-old son Adam (Cameron Bright), in an automobile accident. A former
professor of Jessie’s, Richard Wells (Robert De Niro), intrudes in the midst of
their grief. He offers them the opportunity to resurrect their son in his
laboratory.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย If
they act quickly, he promises, he can harvest Adam’s stem cells and apparently
insert them in Jessie’s uterus. The couple can re-create their child and repeat
his life. They will essentially have their son, the same little boy, all over
again.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Naturally,
although not without some misgivings, the Duncans accept the scientist’s offer.
Following his plan, they relocate to a splendid house in the country near the
ambiguously named Godsend Fertility Clinic, run by Dr. Wells.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
implantation of the stems cells produces the desired effect. Jessie bears a
male child, the exact duplicate of their lost son, a new Adam for their new
world. Since the research violates the law, they must keep the whole endeavor
secret. This narrows the emotional range and constricts the characters in their
culpability, so that Dr. Wells becomes part of the family, Adam’s beloved Uncle
Richard.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย As
any wan veteran of the balconies knows, that artificially controlled and
concentrated situation must obey the rigid rules of cinema and eventually
disintegrate into fear and suffering. When he reaches his eighth birthday, Adam
begins to suffer night terrors and fugue states, when he appears to take on
another identity and apparently undergoes some of the experiences of his
initial self, the first Adam.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย As
his behavior and personality change radically from sweet and loving to
obnoxious and violent, his parents suspect that something has gone terribly
wrong. Paul decides to track down the clues in Adam’s nightmares and
hallucinations, which lead to the inevitable and perhaps too predictable
solution to the mystery of his identity.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Although
that central mystery follows a relatively familiar pattern, it also provides a
few unexpected twists, including some rather hurried explanations and some
factitious additions.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
picture relies far too much on the familiar material of its genre: repeated
shots of characters walking apprehensively down long dark corridors toward some
fearful danger, tediously slow movement to extract every ounce of tension from
some stereotypical situation, and an appalling telegraphing of many of its
alleged surprises.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
writer and director apparently don’t quite know how to end their story so
simply tack on material that belabors the obvious and the literal.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Aside
from some reiterated talk about its basic premise, Godsend rarely attempts to confront the moral confusion of creating
a new life. Instead it concentrates on that late 20th-century horror flick
phenomenon — since The Bad Seed and
Village of the Damned — of the
child as both victim and villain.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
one scene that actually visualizes the moral complexity of its themes occurs
near the end in a climactic and violent confrontation between De Niro and
Kinnear. Appropriately, they struggle in front of the altar in a Catholic
church, thus neatly suggesting the contemporary conflict between the new
science and the old religion.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Aside
from the ambiguity of its title, the only other real irony in the movie may be
entirely inadvertent — De Niro, memorably and horribly, played the monster to
Kenneth Branagh’s unmemorable but equally horrible Victor in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Now he
plays the Mad Scientist himself, perhaps a step forward in an otherwise
generally distinguished and varied career.
Godsend (PG-13), starring Greg Kinnear,
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Robert De Niro, Cameron Bright; written by Mark Bomback;
directed by Nick Hamm. Cinemark Tinseltown, Loews Webster, Pittsford Plaza
Cinema, Regal Culver Ridge, Regal Eastview, Regal Greece Ridge, Regal
Henrietta.
This article appears in May 5-11, 2004.
