I remember how at the starry-eyed age of thirteen I anticipated the release of Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I felt I had full right to be part of the mounting phenomenon, and after I saw the movie with millions of others, I (like those many others) claimed CE3K as my own.
That communal yet personal feeling continued with E.T., The Extra-terrestrial and Matthew Robbins' Amazing Stories-derived *batteries not included (produced by Spielberg's Amblin), both of which I held in high regard. However, as the years passed, the writer/director became evermore a socio-political pundit (even going so far as to censor the sight of guns in E.T.). With that, my loyalty waned and then faded.
In recent weeks, I wondered if Disclosure Day might be the movie to resume that loyalty. There was a good chance since the premise was said to depict humans contacting otherworldly beings.
For the sake of the story, screenwriter David (War of the Worlds/Jurassic Park) Koepp (pulling from a Spielberg outline) has given us a cybersecurity, ex-con whistleblower named Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor), who's caught wind of extra-terrestrials visiting Earth, albeit in psychic disguise, and plans to share this information with one and all prior to a possible (maybe probable) outbreak of WWIII. (Kellner's proof has been shielded by the government as leverage against enemy attack, or is it more a matter of the bureaucrats not wishing to blow our minds?) Meanwhile, a television meteorologist, Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), receives strange signals in her head from an alien source (accompanied by extrasensory spurts and these weird clicks and clucks she makes) and warns Daniel that assassins have been dispatched to kill him before "full disclosure" can occur. (Colin Firth plays Noah Scanlan, a mind-intruding heavy whose Wardex Corporation assists the government with its cover-up, and Coleman Domingo's Hugo Wakefield is a Wardex turncoat, who desires disclosure as much as Daniel and Margaret. Wyatt Russell plays Margaret's musician boyfriend, and Eve Hewson plays Daniel's ex-nun girlfriend, who alas, doesn't know who Jackie Gleason is [now how in the world can that be?]; both lend their staunch support when and where they can.)
As one may deduce, Daniel and Margaret are roundabout surrogates for CE3K's amenable lineman, Roy Neary. Like Neary, they're drawn by a higher force to fulfill their mystical mission. Mirroring Spielberg's 1977 U.F.O. classic in this regard should have won me over, but no matter where or how I positioned myself, I evaded the hook.
I believe the lack of commitment came in recalling that Spielberg isn't the man I thought him to be (or let's say, isn't the man he was). This uncomfortable notion nudged me after his recent request for more "empathy" in the world, with the implication being that we should show compassion to those who wish us harm (i.e. turn a blind eye to confirmed or potential assault) and how Disclosure Day is the emblematic, social key that could shift the essential, "empathetic" gears.
From this, I can only infer that Disclosure Day was made for a privileged in-crowd: those who see the world from the fringes and never at its dangerous heart. That means the movie bypasses all the daily-grind, "non-empathetic" survivors of the bad, and if there's anything that distinguishes Daniel and Margaret from Roy Neary, it's their sanctimonious relegation and the fact that they were once (surprise!) abducted, though neither can remember it. While Neary is an "everyman," chosen to board the Mothership, Daniel and Margaret are long-term, manipulated VIPs, who'll do as they please, no matter if it's right, wrong or somewhere in between.
In the same vein, Daniel and Margaret aren't E.T.'s Elliott (a mini Neary, one might argue), who let audiences see through his humble eyes. Daniel and Margaret aren't the self-effacing tenants of *batteries not included, who made viewers part of their unique family. The characters of E.T. and *batteries not included didn't act from a special perch or insert a confidential agenda to get what they wanted. Disclosure Day's duo does, even if their motivation is softened around the edges.
In the least, Disclosure Day's finale should have compensated for the detachment caused, but even there, the conclusion felt cumbersome. Oh, it churned enough of a sense of wonder (and yes, the Grey component manifested and did so in CE3K homage, and yes, John Williams' score did a splendid job elevating its mystique), but again (damn it!), I felt like an intruder, not one worthy of the fable's unveiling. If I was allowed a measly glimpse, it was only because the high and mighty found it in their huge, smug hearts to throw me a scrap, knowing full well that I couldn't see or agree with their surreptitious plan. That's not the Spielberg I revered. That's a puppetized simulation of the man.
Storytelling (moviemaking) is forged for escapism, but sometimes it sneaks in propaganda. To me, Disclosure Day feels like the latter, telling audiences to accept wrong as right and up as down, which designates it as a pompous betrayal among the legendary director's curriculum vitae. Thank God the inspiring, "average schmo" sincerity of CE3K and its companions prevail. Let's just hope their overseer never alters them to embellish his latest, holier-than-thou proclamation.
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