Word: gattaca
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Afflicted with nearsightedness and a weak heart, Vincent nonetheless cherishes the impossible dream of becoming an astronaut at Gattaca Corporation, where he works as a janitor. To this higher end, he buys the assistance of a Valid, Jerome Morrow (Jude Law), who, though crippled by an accident, possesses a spectacular set of genes. Jerome supplies him with blood, urine and other samples of relevant body matter to pass the genetic tests, and Vincent "becomes" Jerome Morrow, admitted to the ranks of the Gattaca elite. Jerome's brilliant record qualifies him to lead a mission to one of Jupiter's moons...
...opening of Gattaca, like the rest of the movie, is an eye-teaser: against a backdrop of cool blue-gray, misshapen bits of matter drift like feathers, only to collect in an unidentifiable heap. Meanwhile, the credits appear in fragments: first the letters that make up the movie title--A, T, C and, more rarely, G--followed by the rest of the name. It's then that the significance of those four letters finally dawns upon you: Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine, the four bases that make up our genetic code. A zoom-out to a view of Ethan Hawke...
...intriguing premise that goes a long way toward making an impressive though uneven feature film debut for writer-director Andrew Niccol. Gattaca, unfortunately, fails to explore the subtler ramifications and genuinely disturbing socio-economic implications of the situation it introduces. This lack is less than satisfactorily replaced by the individual drama it centers on instead--it's the old, old story of the lone hero who refuses to play the hand that's dealt...