Deep Impact (1998)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Captain Spurgeon "Fish" Tanner	Robert Duvall	½
Jenny Lerner	Téa Leoni	½
Leo Biederman	Elijah Wood	½
Robin Lerner	Vanessa Redgrave
Jason Lerner	Maximilian Schell	½
Tom Beck	Morgan Freeman	½
Alan Rittenhouse	James Cromwell	-
Commander Oren Monash	Ron Eldard
Dr. Gus Partenza	Jon Favreau	-
Beth Stanley	Laura Innes	-
Stuart Caley	Bruce Weitz	-
Andrea "Andy" Baker	Mary McCormack	-
Don Biederman	Richard Schiff	-
Ellen Biederman	Betsy Brantley	Ja
Sarah Hotchner	Leelee Sobieski
Mark Simon	Blair Underwood	-
Dr. Marcus Wolf	Charles Martin Smith	-
General Scott	Francis X. McCarthy	-
Otis "Mitch" Hefter	Kurtwood Smith	-

Review

Deep Impact belonged to the 1990s disaster tradition dealing with great human sacrifice and biblical references of gargantuan proportions. But unlike most of its counterparts, i.e. films in the Roland Emmerich or Michael Bay mould, Deep Impact's director Mimi Leder actually was able to incorporate and handle effective interpersonal relations in her film, which helps make quite a few of these characters into true humans. Seen in light of current global state of affairs, the film also has a sense of dignified austerity which is enviable, and I'm quite convinced that Morgan Freeman should actually have been the U.S. President at some point. The film offers a nice little love story involving Elijah Wood and Leelee Sobieski, and a sombre sub-story about Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell. That same sombreness is also present as the film turns to its more heroic and CGI-driven finale, which helps make the end spectacle more resonant here in Deep Impact than in its aforementioned unmentioned competitors. This is a fine achievement by director Leder, whose work here ensured Deep Impact would make at least a somewhat lasting, albeit not actually deep impact.