It’s important to note that Jack Nicholson does not appear in Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day.” Throughout this incredibly complex, engaging and challenging film, however, Nicholson’s often quoted words – “You can’t handle the truth!” (“A Few Good Men,” 1992) would be a fitting sub-title.
In “Disclosure Day” Spielberg combines so many critical elements in one tightly scripted package (screenplay by David Koepp) that the audience is not only invited, but required to pay close attention. There are spectacular car and train chases. There is a love story. There are devious story twists perpetrated by very odious people. There are government plots managed by an evil para-government agency. There are aliens.There are nuns. And, there is the driving challenge of whether all of humanity can handle the truth.
The five principal characters in the intricately woven plot are, either by intense design or by naïve innocence, caught up in a headlong struggle to arrive at “Disclosure Day” – the day we all learn the truth. Only if all the surrealistic elements converge will the planet become aware of the truth behind decades of rumors and cover-up about alien visitation. Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth, amazingly not the hero in this acting tour de force) will do anything in the considerable power of the organization known as Wardex to stop that from happening. Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo, the voice of reason, strength and calm) who leads a team of Wardex defectors works diligently to thwart the attempts to keep the truth from being revealed.
Caught up in this super-human power struggle are fellow Wardex defector Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor, fully committed to a role he plays with charming discomfort) his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson whose transformation from novitiate nun to lover to potential killer is magnetic) and the weather girl from a Kansas City television station, Margaret Fairchild (an incredibly engaging, emotive and heroic Emily Blunt) who suddenly becomes invested with magical powers she truly does not understand nor want.
Spielberg has immersed himself in this world before – the discussion of alien visitations on earth and the complexity of human interaction. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T,” “Minority Report.” There are reminders of these monumental films lightly sprinkled throughout “Disclosure Day” with the added existential burden of asking the question – “What if we knew the truth?” Would Jack’s sneering threat that we can’t handle the truth ring true … or would universal knowledge be the emotional tide that lifts all boats? And, what about faith? If the world knew that we were truly not alone, could faith be sustained, or shattered? With the deft cinematic hand that has been Spielberg’s signature for decades, we are left with a one-word coda on the film that can be either a threat … or a promise.
Film making technology has evolved and allowed auteurs to realistically present the most sensational imaginings. Superhero franchises glut the summer screens, trying to lure the teen audience in on rainy days with spectacular explosions, morphing creatures, acrobatic aerial maneuvers all set in worlds that almost defy imagination. “Disclosure Day” certainly takes advantage of the available technology, but in a way that does not pander to the audience, but advances a multi-thread storyline with almost relentless intensity. When underscored by yet another brilliant John Williams musical score, there is no time allotted to slip out of the theatre seat to get a soda refill and a box of Junior Mints. Once you’re in your seat, be prepared to stay engaged, challenged, occasionally amused and intensely interested as Mr. Spielberg asks the question – can we handle the truth?
There will be several “summer blockbusters” that will appear and should be seen on the big screen. Steven Spielberg invented the genre when “Jaws” swam into our consciousness over 50 years ago. He’s back, and “Disclosure Day” beckons you to an air conditioned movie house near you.