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I had the privilege of seeing The Day After Tomorrow on the big screen. And let me tell you, the big screen is the place to see it. I just cannot imagine that viewers will get the same perspective watching the DVD on their TV at home. The trailers show the Statue of Liberty being engulfed by a tidal wave, the spray of which comes up to the top of the lady’s torch. Well, we get to see that tidal wave forming from a camera angle directed towards Manhattan island, and I find it hard to believe that that scene would be as impressive on the small screen.

All in all, absolutely a worthwhile movie. Although the story develops unbelievably quickly, and there are some loose ends not tied up, it is told well, with a little romance and comic relief to break up the drama. From what I could tell, and have learned since, the science is acceptable. The theory that global warming could lead to another ice age, while debated, is an accepted theory. That it could happen within a few months or weeks is highly suspect. But it makes for a cool, effects-laden movie!

Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal put in solid performances as the concerned scientist and the disaffected youth, respectively. Gyllenhaal’s character, a gifted high school student, obviously respects his father as a person and as a scientist. This lends some realism when he is asked simply to take his father’s word that the storm is going to get worse and he is just to stay put and stick it out.

Throughout a good part of the movie I was trying to figure out who this one actor was. He looked very familiar and bundled in the cold-weather gear I couldn’t quite place him. Then right at the end it dawned on me … Tom Rooney! The lovable Crown Attorney in CBC’s This is Wonderland. Excellent work, Tom!

This movie gets 8 saltines out of 10 from the Big Cracker.