Solaris
George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh have teamed up again to produce this "sci-fi" flick named Solaris, named for the mysterious cloud planet of light a space station is orbiting. After watching this, I had to ask, where has Soderbergh gone? After Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven, he's come up with one dud, Full Frontal, and this monster.

Clooney gets a call from his buddy from the space station proclaiming strange things are happening on the station. He wants him to travel and investigate. Upon his arrival, he finds his friend dead, a crazy female scientist who doesn't want anyone near her and a guy who just seems out of it. He gets himself acclimated to his new environment when his dead ex-wife suddenly appears. Obviously surprised, Clooney shoots her out into space in an escape pod only to have her re-appear later. The female scientist explains it's a copy from Solaris, a visitor. Why? It's not explained. Soon, Clooney re-develops his relationship with his wife only to have herself commit suicide in the end. In the process, the space station is getting sucked into Solaris. The female scientist leaves but Clooney stays. Did he die? Is he alive? That's for you to decide.

But to get to this question, we have to go through so much that moves so slowly. The camera lingers at such unimportant things that all of it is just a waste of time. Clooney's performance is good. You can feel the emotions he's going through, from the surprise, to the anger, to the terror, and finally to sadness. And the shots of Solaris are beautiful. But it's all much ado about nothing. 1.5 stars