Movie Review - I Am Legend

As I braved a cold rainy night with reports of severe ice storms headed our way I got to thinking that this was like the good old days of movies when we went to see them because of the Star and not the Academy Award Winning Doofus with their name dominating all the publicity.

Will Smith. Now there's a movie star. All they have to do is put him in a lead role and he'll deliver a stunning performance every time. His latest "I Am Legend" is all the proof I need. So, the minute you finish reading this, dash right out and buy a fistful of tickets to give as presents to your family, friends, and neighbors. It's the perfect gift and they'll remember you always for it. Snatch a bunch of them when it comes out in DVD twenty minutes later and hand them out all year long as the perfect gift for any occasion.

I Am Legend is a hard-hitting movie about a brilliant scientist who chooses not to join the millions being evacuated from New York City due to a virus pandemic causing the destruction of anyone left in the city and perhaps even the entire world. For reasons to be explained, Robert Neville (Will Smith) is somehow immune to the virus and he remains behind in a legendary city all to himself and his faithful sidekick German Shepard dog named Samantha (Sam).

I'm saving the rest of the plot for you to experience as it should be ... in a theater with proper surround sound and all the big screen miracles. Two scenes in particular, however, relatively unimportant to the pandemonium taking place around Neville (Smith) are quite noteworthy.

One takes place inside a store, windows broken, void of humanity, it's a routine stop every day for our super-scientist. What look to be customers are actually female mannequins standing aloof and beautiful with sightless eyes and mouths that utter no sound. In a small almost throw-away scene Robert Neville approaches one of the 'customers' who he has admired before and shyly introduces himself to her. Of course she doesn't respond to his timid come-on. We can see from his face that he desperately needs some form of human communication and, as the scene plays out, he asks then pleads for her to say hello to him. Her silence is deafening to all and the brilliant blending of camera and close-ups on Will Smith's face speak mighty volumes on our own precarious, fragile egos and our need for human acceptance. It's a vignette within the scope of a much larger canvas, but so well done that it haunts your memory and brings us frighteningly aware of or own deep-seated need for the slightest glimmer of human interaction.

Another disturbing vignette happens when Neville's ever faithful dog shows manifestations of having the virus. There is not a word of dialogue and what unfolds happens all in the face of Will Smith who conveys through body language and the transformation of overwhelming sadness, then determination of what must be done and ends with remorse and surrender to the outcome of his actions. This is excellent acting, people. You seldom see this in movies anymore.

As the DJ seated next to me said when the film ended, "Now, that's a movie!" Amen, Brother ... Amen. This is one you'll want to see over and over again.