Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

Dark Matter (2007)

Director: Chen Shi-Zheng

Critics' rating

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out New York

The title’s a bit grindhouse—eat your heart out, Abel Ferrara—and the last 15 minutes of this slow-burner, about a Chinese physics student gone berserk on a college campus, are pretty close to exploitative. But even if real-life events at Virginia Tech didn’t totally toxify Dark Matter’s commercial prospects (only weeks after its award-winning 2007 Sundance premiere), you’d still be eyeballing a sadly uneven affair.

Inspired by a 1991 shooting at the University of Iowa, the movie devotes an impressive amount of its running time to subtle differences between Eastern and Western ambition. Smiling Liu Xing (Liu), thrilled to toil all night on the theories of his hotshot adviser (Quinn), seems unable to pinpoint the exact moment when his selfless kowtowing triggers a competitive revulsion. His dissertation suddenly thrown in his face, the kid bites back.

Director Chen Shi-zheng is better known for operas. He imports some of that feel for emotional musicality in the movie’s Asian pop-choral score and the occasional bursting supernova, pyrotechnics that don’t add up to much in the way of profundity. The tensions of intellectual pride demand a quieter address; Dark Matter might have played like Shattered Glass in more capable hands. Still, these performers achieve a freshness despite dramatic shortcuts in the script, especially Meryl Streep as a slightly dotty, kindhearted Sinophile who endows the school with money in exchange for the students’ social company.

It’s a small part, but pivotal to the distractions that plague a somber mind.

Author: Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out New York Issue 654: April 10 - 16, 2008


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Chen Shi-Zheng

Cast: Liu Ye, Aidan Quinn, Meryl Streep

Rated: R

Duration: 88 mins

US Release: Apr 11 2008




Features

The divine comedy

The divine comedy

Film Forum honors Carole Lombard, cinema's funniest lady.

From here to maternity

Catherine Deneuve, belle maman, reigns in A Christmas Tale.

Van Dammage

With the metamovie JCVD, the Muscles from Brussels hopes to flex his acting chops.

Kind of blue

Elizabeth Banks comes undone in Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Sim city

Charlie Kaufman dreams up a portrait of the artist as a control freak.

Oliver's army

W. returns Hollywood's provocateur to the big political canvas.

Bridesmaid revisited

Anne Hathaway crashes more than a wedding in Rachel Getting Married.