Solaris (2002) Critic Reviews

Clooney brings raw intensity to his role; his scenes with McElhone are rooted in a fierce romantic yearning.Read the full review

Though glazed in chilly surfaces -- the Kubrickian spaces, Cliff Martinez's gorgeous ambient score, the elliptical editing rhythms of Soderbergh's recent work, particularly "The Limey" -- the film contains a surprising depth of feeling within its egg-shaped head.Read the full review

The Soderbergh version is like the same story freed from the weight of Tarkovsky's solemnity. And it evokes one of the rarest of movie emotions, ironic regret.Read the full review

Essentially a solemn, splintered meditation on lost love: a movie about personal space, in space.Read the full review

Unexpectedly thoughtful, as well as touching.Read the full review

To appreciate Solaris, the new film by Steven Soderbergh, it helps to downshift your moviegoing metabolism to a level approaching the cryogenically frozen: The movie's that cerebral, that contemplative, that slow.Read the full review

Soderbergh does a fine job creating a moody atmosphere of pervasive anxiety. The ending can be interpreted a few different ways and should ignite debate about its meaning.Read the full review

Neither as effective nor as ambitious as Kubrick's masterpiece, but it's still a compelling cinematic experience for those who are willing to abandon themselves to the unforced, measured rhythms of an issues-based motion picture.Read the full review

Ends up more challenging and intriguing than personally involving, and while these are far from small things, it is only human to hope for more.Read the full review