6TH DAY, THE(2000)
In the not-too-distant future, when cloning plants, pets,
and human organs is accepted, a sinister corporation has
begun illegally duplicating entire human beings. They
mistakenly clone the wrong man; a man who is now the
only one with the power to expose their evil. They desperately
want to kill him, but he will do anything to reclaim his family
and life. B
From Amazon.com:
For a movie about cloning, it's only appropriate that The 6th
Day, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, is instilled with a strong
sense of deja vu, namely from Arnold's previous "Who am I?"
outing, Total Recall. In that movie, Arnold is a normal Joe who
discovers that his entire reality has been co-opted by an evil
conspiracy, and has to take his life back by force. The same
premise applies here for Roger Spottiswoode's clever if overlong
sci-fi thriller--Arnold thinks he's a regular guy leading a regular
life, until a twist of fate puts him on the lam from a vast conspiracy
that's replaced him with a clone. While he's trying to evade the
evil genetics corporation--and its trendy, deadly, clone-friendly
assassins (who don't care how many times they're killed: there's
more where that came from)--his double is snuggling at home
with his wife and daughter. And new legislation outlaws the
existence of human clones, so somebody's got to go. But who
gets to be live and who gets to be the dead Memorex man?
Why does said genetics corporation want to clone people? How
does the kindly scientist (Robert Duvall) fit in? What's the mystery
behind the slick billionaire (Tony Goldwyn) who runs everything?
It's all kind of irrelevant in the end, as long as it provides a chance
for Arnold to indulge in some energetic mayhem and explosive
action. What distinguishes The 6th Day is its sneaky, humorous--and
chilling--look at the near future, taking everyday technological
advances and turning them up just a couple notches, envisioning
an era with cloned pets, virtual girlfriends, and computers running
most everything, from the refrigerator to your car. Arnold is
supposed to be a throwback to the "real" world--you can tell
because he cherishes his vintage, navigation-system-free
Cadillac--but as usual, he just brings his behemoth presence
to the role and not much else. Still, he's a friendly enough hero,
and he rolls with the punches (literally) all the way through to the
end. Too bad the film overstays its welcome by about half an
hour--a little shorter and it could have been a breezy sci-fi/action
romp. With scene stealers Michael Rooker, Sarah Wynter, and
Rod Rowland as the trio of cloned assassins who always come
back--again and again. --Mark Englehart