Charlie Sheen headlines the film as Zane, a guy who uses the job title of 'radio astronomer' as code for 'UFO Conspiracy Nut.' Zane is the kind of geek who would rather record mystifying solar bumps in the night than respond to his girlfriend (Teri Polo) when she calls to tell him, 'I want you in bed.' She wants a future with him; he can't seem to give up his work, although whenever she so much as looks at another man, he erupts in a weird, Hulk-ish manner. I guess that means he loves her.
One night, Zane and his less-attractive colleague (Richard Schiff) hear fascinating rumblings on their radio satellite. They scramble to record the potentially groundbreaking noise, which curiously cuts out after an intense 45 seconds or so. Could it be aliens!? Zane brings his recording to his skeptical boss (Ron Silver), who tells him he's an unappreciated genius who needs to lay off the UFO nonsense. When Zane leaves, the boss purposely destroys the tape. Could it be a cover-up!?
Zane goes back to the drawing board, consuming himself in all things alien to the point that he becomes an independent, unpaid researcher. He remodels his attic into a private observatory in what seems like two hours. He solicits the use of neighborhood satellite dishes in an attempt to coordinate a signal so he can recapture the earth-shattering discovery of his previous findings... and then... you get the idea. The story gets deeper and deeper, more technical and more ludicrous. It's easy to get bogged down in a film that hinges so specifically on a set of labyrinthine and fake scientific rules, and The Arrival is especially hard to engage with because of its unintentional B-movie silliness. A few examples: the mysterious life-forms whose legs fold inward to leap to the skies; the aliens who speak in a tongue that relies heavily, it seems, on African tribal dialects; the odd spaceship where the beings walk around in hardhats. All these elements are portrayed with utmost sincerity, save a few moments -- probably of Sheen improv -- in which the actor must smirk at what the screenplay has put him through (best line: 'I look like a can of smashed assholes!').
Sheen is an underrated actor, and in this most preposterous of roles he convincingly turns himself into a completely obsessed geek. What becomes strange is the actor's tendency -- either by direction or by nature -- to turn into a gruff, brooding beast whenever he gets angry. It's clear this guy is onto something huge and isn't being recognized for his work, but would a mild-mannered science nerd really become enraged to the point that it seems he will rip his own head off? The screenplay, too, is an uneven mix of hardcore science and over-the-top conspiracy intrigue that evokes more laughter than thrills.
The Arrival was written and directed by David Twohy, who went on to make the mildly interesting Pitch Black and the mildly nauseating Chronicles of Riddick. In this film, the filmmaker brings sufficient knowledge and love for far-fetched double-bill sci-fi material, but not enough perspective to realize that B-movies can't work without a sly grin. I can tolerate kitsch from a director like Quentin Tarantino, because he's smart enough to have fun with his preposterous material. This film takes its ridiculousness seriously, and even though that's kind of sad, it is actually hilarious.
Aka Shockwave.
