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Mercy Point
St. Waaaay Elsewhere
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Mercy Point
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Starring Joe Morton, Maria Del Mar, Alexandra Wilson, Julia Pennington
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UPN
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Tuesdays, 9 p.m. ET/PT
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Premieres Oct. 6
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Review by Patrick Lee
 ercy Point is the answer to SF fans who always thought that Drs. McCoy, Crusher, Franklin and Bashir never had enough screen time. In an era hopefully well beyond HMOs--i.e. the 23rd century--the interstellar hospital complex Mercy Point is the last chance for quality medical care for those leaving the known galaxy.
Though remote, this deep-space hospital nevertheless boasts an elite staff of dedicated alien and human doctors, nurses and technicians whose sole purpose is to patch up and cure whoever jets into the amply equipped ER.
Not that the medical staff doesn't have troubles of its own. Dr. Grote Maxwell (Morton), the series lead and primary "alien physiologist," has lost touch with his estranged father. Maxwell's boss and closest ally, Dr. Haylen Breslauer (Del Mar), meanwhile, carries a well-hidden torch for him. At the same time, she's struggling with her anger against her estranged sister, Dr. Dru Breslauer (Wilson), who coincidentally shows up unexpectedly as the hospital's newest resident physician.
For her part, Dru is still dealing with unresolved feelings for Dr. Caleb "C.J." Jurado (Brian McNamara), a cocky "med-naut" who regularly risks his life on extravehicular house calls. And C.J. is balancing his feelings for Dru with those for Lt. Kimberly Tolomeo, the hospital's beautiful, by-the-book military liaison. Then there's the beautiful, by-the-book ANI (Android Nursing Interface, played by Pennington), a robot nurse who is managing to raise the ire of the human nursing staff because of her perfection.
Despite this personal baggage, the staff manages to find time to handle a host of critical medical situations. In the pilot, "New Arrivals," the hospital faces the threat of an unknown, potentially catastrophic virus with no apparent cure. In episode three, "Last Resort," Maxwell and crusty chief of staff Dr. Harris DeMilla (Joe Spano of Hill Street Blues) face an ethical dilemma as a wealthy politician threatens and cajoles them to perform an experimental blood transfusion with an alien to save his terminally ill son.
Catch it while you can
Mercy Point is the brainchild of writer Trey Callaway (I Still Know What You Did Last Summer) and goes into UPN's SF-heavy rotation this season on Tuesdays, where it will face NBC's "Must See TV" staple "Just Shoot Me" and the WB's burgeoning hit "Felicity."
Despite the competition, Mercy Point is worth catching--at least while it's still around--if only for the mesmerizing (as usual) performance by indie-film regular Morton (Brother from Another Planet) and for a few well-crafted, intimate moments, such as the scene between the politico's son and his alien counterpart in episode three.
Beyond that, based on the viewing of two rough-cut episodes, Mercy Point suffers from its resemblance to other, much better medical dramas that have preceded it, from St. Elsewhere to Chicago Hope, and especially ER, the show it most closely mirrors.
Despite the futuristic veneer, its plots and characters hew a little too closely to their 20th-century counterparts, more Ben Casey than Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In keeping the drama so Earth-bound, Mercy Point suffers from the usual medical show cliches: the unexpected pregnancy, the incurable epidemic and its last-minute cure, breaking the bad news to the grieving mom, and administering the paddles in a last-ditch effort to revive the crashing patient. Clear!
Anyone who's been watching TV for the last few years has seen all of it, and some of it done with greater style and wit. To be fair, Mercy Point does toss in a few SF variations on the themes: the grieving mom in this case turns out to be a hologram that breaks up at an inopportune moment.
And episode three does cut through the bathos to offer a few heartfelt moments and to ruminate on medical ethics. But it's not enough to redeem some of the soapy dialog, as when elder sister Haylen tells errant Dru in the pilot: "I don't need you messing up lives while I'm trying to save them."
I'm rooting for Mercy Point because it tackles serious issues and isn't afraid to explore its characters deeply--the stuff SF is best at. I just hope it can sever its Earth umbilical and go where no medical show has gone before.
-- P.L.
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Seven Days
Traveling into the past, one week at a time
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Seven Days
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Starring Jonathan LaPaglia, Don Franklin, Justina Vail, Norman Lloyd
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UPN
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Wednesdays, 8 p.m. ET/PT
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Premieres Oct. 7
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Review by Jeff Berkwits
 arly one morning, while the president and vice president of the United States are meeting with a high-ranking Russian government official, a terrorist group crashes a small plane loaded with explosives into the White House. The massive detonation destroys much of the building, killing everyone at the gathering and releasing a cloud of deadly gas that spreads to the surrounding neighborhood.
Meanwhile, former CIA operative Frank Parker (LaPaglia) is leading an uprising at a psychiatric hospital, where he ended up--against his will--following a mission that left him mentally unstable. Soon after the patients hear about the White House bombing, Parker is unexpectedly offered an opportunity to undergo a strange test of mental stamina that would allow him to leave the facility.
After passing the exam, he is flown to the top-secret Back Step installation somewhere in the Nevada desert. There he learns about a machine built from extraterrestrial technology that can send an individual seven days into the past. As the Back Step project members wait for details about the identities of the terrorists, Parker is hurriedly trained to go back in time and stop the attack. But his instabilities attract the suspicion of election committee member Nate Ramsey (Nick Searcy), while his good looks and charm attract the flirtatious attentions of former Soviet scientist Olga Vukavitch (Vail).
With time running out, Parker is sent back in time to just before the bombing, where he is supposed to warn the Back Step group about the impending attack. Unfortunately, things do not go exactly as planned, and the Back Step team must quickly track down the terrorist squad before the future repeats itself.
A step back for SF TV
From early Twilight Zone tales through series like The Time Tunnel and Quantum Leap, television writers have always enjoyed the challenges and opportunities offered by time travel. While these programs frequently followed the exploits of lost or stranded individuals, Seven Days has omitted that narrative element, focusing instead on the plot and the script. That's unfortunate, because the plot and the script are two of Seven Days' major weaknesses.
Although some of his snappish remarks occasionally seem forced, LaPaglia does a fine job as Parker, displaying a nice mixture of bewilderment and gung-ho spirit when presented with the unbelievable details of the time-travel scheme. Unfortunately, most of the other actors are forced to portray stock Hollywood roles such as the brainy scientist, the humanistic doctor, the skeptical government bureaucrat, etc. A paraplegic team member named Ballard (Sam Whipple), who inexplicably swings around the Back Step facility on a type of breeches buoy, offers some potentially humorous promise.
The creators of the series also seem to have given little thought to the actual method of time travel, cavalierly indicating that the process was reverse-engineered from the infamous Roswell spaceship. And as if preventing a presidential assassination is not enough of a reason to venture into the past, Parker's estranged son is unexpectedly (and implausibly) threatened by the attack. This treacly twist, combined with stereotypical characters, run-of-the-mill repartee and a rather predictable plot, ensures that, at least for this debut adventure, Seven Days remains absolutely unexceptional science fiction television fare.
At one point in the program Frank's ex-wife yells "Damn you, Parker. Everywhere you go things turn to crap!" While this is admittedly only the pilot episode, if the flimsy story and mediocre acting are any indication of the show's future, her statement could be sadly prophetic.
-- Jeff
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Antz
"One independent-minded ant can make a difference"
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Antz
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Rated PG
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DreamWorks SKG
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Voiced by Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman
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Directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson
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Written by Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz
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78 minutes
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Review by Kathie Huddleston
 (voiced by Allen) is a worker ant with a problem. He hates being a "soil relocation engineer" and he feels that, in a colony of several million, his life just doesn't matter. His psychiatrist assures him that he's right...his life doesn't matter.
Z's co-worker, Azteca (voiced by Jennifer Lopez), doesn't understand Z's problem. Why can't he just be happy doing what workers have always done...work? In the ant colony there are workers, soldiers and the queen. That's the way it has always been. Every ant does what's best for the colony.
At the local bar, Z is too depressed to even join the ritual dance, where ants join together in an enormous regimented line dance, until a beautiful girl ant asks him to dance. Unable to help themselves, the new couple do their own thing on the dance floor. As his partner runs off, Z discovers she was actually the Queen's daughter, Princess Bala (voiced by Stone).
Afraid he might never see this enchanting ant again, Z trades places with his soldier friend, Weaver (voiced by Sylvester Stallone), during the Queen's inspection of her soldiers. Little does Z know that the power-hungry General Mandible (voiced by Hackman) is about to send soldiers loyal to the Queen off to fight the termites in a suicide mission so he can seize power in the colony.
The two armies meet in a terrible battle, with Z coming out as the only survivor. Hailed a war hero, he finally gets to see the princess again. However, she's not quite so thrilled to see him. When the Queen and Mandible discover Z is only a worker, he flees, taking the princess with him. Being stuck outside the colony's ant hill offers dangers and delights for the bickering couple as they attempt to find an amazing place called Insectopia--with the general's soldiers hot on their trail.
Something for everyone
With fabulous animation in the mold of Toy Story and a variety of celebrity voices, Antz blazes its own territory as entertainment suitable for both kids and adults. This is the first entirely computer-animated film from DreamWorks, and the company has come out with an entertaining, well written and witty film that works on many levels.
The fact that Antz isn't a typical animated film is obvious by the choice of Allen and Stone. Although kids will just think of Z as a funny character, adults will find it hard not to think of Allen when Z speaks. But soon after the opening, the story takes off and the actors behind the characters are forgotten. Instead, each actor's voice adds a richness that brings the characters to life.
However, the real star of the show is the exquisite animation. With full-fledged expressions, the characters seem almost alive. And beyond that, the action in the background of the film is made up of movement that fleshes out each scene, giving Antz the feeling of a true 3-D world.
Of course, animation alone can't sustain a story. Antz also offers a wry look at the insect world and its parallels to the real thing. Kids will laugh as Z looks at plastic wrap as a forcefield, while adults will enjoy the clever dialogue. It's all wrapped up with a nice little message about individualism that both kids and adults will appreciate.
Parents should be warned that there are graphic scenes of violence during the ant/termite war, and there are some other intense scenes that might not be appropriate for the very young. This film has an appropriate PG rating. That said, the average kid won't have any trouble handling Antz.
While Antz is being compared to the classics Animal Farm and Toy Story, it's really created its own category. Whether it will end up as a classic remains to be seen. However, Antz has raised the bar when it comes to entertainment that will appeal to kids of all ages.
-- Kat
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What Dreams May Come
Dream a big dream...
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What Dreams May Come
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Rated PG-13
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PolyGram Filmed
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Starring Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, Cuba Gooding Jr.
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Directed by Vincent Ward
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Written by Ronald Bass
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113 Minutes
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Review by Tamara I. Hladik
 hysician Chris Nielsen (Williams) has been blessed. He has the love of his life in his artist-wife Annie (Sciorra), two beautiful children, laughter, security and happiness. But how transitory happiness is. Transitory enough to make it seem all illusion. Both of Chris's children die in a car accident, and life is bleak afterward. Chris and Annie manage to build something meaningful out of that madness, but, on the way home one evening, years later, Chris himself falls victim to another auto accident.
He is dead, but still exists. When he gains lucidity, he is in familiar surroundings, his home, but no one can see him. Another being is there as well (Gooding), an indefinite stranger who talks with Chris, confirming that he is dead. As Chris accepts this, this stranger's blurred form solidifies; as Chris accepts his new reality, that reality becomes real. Reluctantly, Chris turns from his old life. His spirit guide opens his mind to heaven, which is, actually, wonderful.
Chris seems settled, accepts what is. He is even reunited with his dead daughter. But just as his acceptance gains form, his guide comes to him with terrible news. Annie, despondent over his death, and now alone, has killed herself. Chris is saddened, but thinks he will get to see her soon, in heaven. But he is told by his guide that this will never be, for suicides exist in a dark, unreachable place, a hell of their own making, from which there is no returning.
But Chris's love for Annie is stronger than heaven's denial. He vows to seek her, to reach her, to pull her back from her limbo of despair. That vow has serious weight, for he must travel through hell to save her, and although he cannot die again, he risks his sanity--risks spending eternity in a hollow of madness--if he fails.
Artistic values, but no sense
What Dreams May Come, based on Richard Matheson's novel of the same name, is one of the most visually stunning and innovative productions in a terribly long while. The artistic vision, combined with the special effects, renders its tableaux--earthly, heavenly, and hellish--in style and with meaning. Many techniques are employed to different effect: bold, saturated colors for happiness; painterly
shifting palettes for heaven; sad seas of gray limbs and faces for hell.
Unfortunately, such artistic vision cannot distract or compensate for the confusing and mediocre script and the seemingly rudderless direction. This production takes powerful themes and lets them play out aimlessly. And while these themes of death and love and eternity are powerful and archetypal enough to give the film structure in the beginning, all quickly devolve into a maelstrom of inchoate thoughts and messages.
As if the handling of the film's thematic issues isn't confusing enough, its theology and character motivation help swirl the pot. Reincarnation, limbo, hell on earth, hell in hell, automatic writing, souls switching forms--it all screens like a metaphysical potluck. Some of these metaphysical theorems also unravel character motivation. For viewers who do somehow manage to glean a semblance of order between the film's themes and characters, by the end all must be recanted, for the film's denouement contradicts sense.
Although it's hard to recognize at first, some of the acting is quite good. Williams does a very good job, Sciorra a good job (although there is entirely too much giggling in the film, by all characters), and it's a real treat to see the stolid Max von Sydow.
To its credit, What Dreams May Come appears to be an earnest film; it seems to be sincere in what it is trying to say about death and love and life. However well-intentioned, though, it is lacking the directorial (if not the artistic) vision to say those things clearly.
With such a wonderful team of messages, I truly wanted this film to be a good one; its themes were profound and its aim was high. If this film leaves you with the taste for a film that can expound on these themes, I recommend Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.
-- Tamara
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