The Fourth Kind

Seen at: Carmike 10 in Fort Collins, at 4:35 p.m. on Nov. 9

I have to admit I was intrigued by the premise of this---Blair Witch realism meets Close Encounters alien stuff. It seemed like fun original concept.

Along those lines, the movie supposedly mixes "actual footage" of interviews with people who have experienced alien abductions with fictional depictions of the same events portrayed by Hollywood actors. Again, it seems like it could be interesting.

But it isn't. It's boring. I got sick of the side-by-side real-fictional footage conceit after five minutes and wished it would go away. I just wanted to see the fictional stuff.

But above all it's boring because nothing much really happens, aside from people sitting around talking about their experiences. I picked up on the plot twist way in advance, one that brings into question the whole motivations for the psychologist who is conducting the investigation of the supposed abductions.

There should have been more fiction, less reality. There should have been more drama and action. and fewer interview footage. The "reality" conceit just made this barely watchable.

Also this may be nitpicking, but supposedly the movie was set in Nome, Alaska, where all these "real" abductions and encounters were taking place. Nome is a barren, flat place along the coast of the Bering Sea. But the movie was shot in a temperature mountainous place with lots of trees, probably the coast of British Columbia. Ordinarily this wouldn't bother me (it's Movieland, after all), but if you're going to play the "reality" card, and you want me to buy into it all, this kind of gross switcheroo doesn't just fly with me. It's all or nothing. Like I said, I would have preferred just the fiction, in any case. A good story trumps everything, and this movie didn't have one.

Verdict: yawn.