The 6th Day (2000)

The 6th Day: Directed by Roger Spottiswoode. With Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Rapaport, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker. A man meets a clone of himself and stumbles into a grand conspiracy about clones taking over the world.

“I recently had the pleasure of teaching the wonders of film criticism to an English composition class at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio. The experience was enjoyable, and the class posed a number of questions. One of the more interesting questions concerned the films I had seen that I believed had potential, but ultimately failed in execution. While I have seen a number of films that fit into this category, I couldnu0026#39;t think of a decent example. This was because I hadnu0026#39;t seen u0026quot;The 6th Dayu0026quot; yet. What could have been an interesting and exciting look at the evils of cloning was a u0026quot;Bu0026quot; grade action film at best, despite an above-par script and one of Arnold Schwarzeneggeru0026#39;s better roles to date.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe filmu0026#39;s premise is heavily based in TRUE science fiction; that is, fiction having its basis in scientific truth, using projections of the future to fully examine some aspect of our society. Sorry to go into such an elaborate definition, but I believe a lot of stuff gets swept into the category of science fiction simply because it has a robot, or takes place in outer space. But I digress.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis fictional reality here deals with cloning. In the film, which takes place in the u0026quot;near future,u0026quot; cloning is an every-day practice, but only with pets and animals. Cloning people has been outlawed, as the original human cloning project went horribly wrong. Schwarzenegger plays Adam Gibson, a decent family man and helicopter pilot chartered to fly Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn), a rich businessman who owns Replacement Technologies. This corporation is at the height of cloning technology, running everything from a fish cloning company to help repopulate the oceans, to u0026quot;RePet,u0026quot; a company that clones dead family pets. Thereu0026#39;s even a rumor that the companyu0026#39;s head doctor (Robert Duvall) is experimenting with illegal human cloning. Something goes terribly wrong on Druckeru0026#39;s first flight, and before he knows, Gibson discovers he has been cloned. Its up to him to discover the secret controversy, and get his life back.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith this premise, the film is wide open to make many social observations, and does so very well, on occasion. Much of the legalities concerning cloning, as well as the ethical concerns, are discussed and examined by the characters. Even though the technology exists in the future, it is not widely accepted. Some of these observations are stated with all the eloquence you could expect from an Arnold/action film, but others are done so subtly, and surprisingly, with biting humor. Much of the concept of u0026quot;RePetu0026quot; is quite amusing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, if science fiction is the filmu0026#39;s basis, lame action sequences are its filler. In between these intriguing dialogues are shoddy, cookie-cutter action scenes one should expect from a made for TV film. No matter if itu0026#39;s a car chase, a laser gun shoot-out, or a helicopter battle, it all feels very dull. Itu0026#39;s not that Iu0026#39;m knocking these things, because they have to appear in action film; I just wish they were done well. Ultimately, the action suffers from a lack of creativity, which ironically, is where the rest of the script excels.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd one canu0026#39;t blame Arnold for not trying, as he is both charming and believable in his part. His is a performance with a surprising level of humanity, especially in scenes where heu0026#39;s going about his daily life. One almost forgets heu0026#39;s an action star and begins to take him a little seriously. But donu0026#39;t worry, after the first half-hour heu0026#39;s picked up a laser gun and is fighting and one-lining his way to the climax.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enI guess my one qualm with u0026quot;The 6th Dayu0026quot; is its failed potential: with some better action sequences (like those found in u0026quot;The Matrixu0026quot;), this could have been a very decent film, one I would be sending you to right away. Instead, itu0026#39;s simply a wait-for-video flick, and by my guess, that wait wonu0026#39;t be long.”