College Times

Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Movies

Media Credit: Universal Pictures

The Fourth Kind
Starring Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas and Will Patton
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Rated PG-13
Grade: D+

In 2007, a poll by the Associated Press found that more than one-third of people believed in ghosts or UFOs.
That being said, the premise of "The Fourth Kind," which centers on alien abductions that took place in Alaska, definitely has the potential to spark curiosity among audiences and make them question the reality of paranormal happenings.

Unfortunately, the film is plagued with bad acting and the obnoxious repetition of split screens, making it difficult for any relatively intelligent human being to take this "true" story very seriously.

"The Fourth Kind" opens with Milla Jovovich explaining that this film is based on actual events and will combine dramatization alongside real footage.

Jovovich plays Dr. Abigail Tyler (in the dramatization), a psychologist who began videotaping sessions of her patients after they claimed to have experienced strange happenings. In a hypnotic state, all of them recall seeing the same white owl before being taken somewhere unknown, describing the experience as "the worst thing you could ever imagine."

After one of her patients murders his family and commits suicide, Dr. Tyler becomes engrossed with understanding abduction theories. Meanwhile, these strange incidents continue to escalate around the town, and the sheriff (played by an overly-dramatic Will Patton) accuses Dr. Tyler of losing her sanity and in some way contributing to the incidents.

In the actual footage that often appears in split-screen with the dramatization, the "real" Dr. Tyler looks nothing like Jovovich, which just seems like another desperate attempt to try to make audiences believe in the "real" footage. And despite it having many of the elements to be convincing footage - a hand-held recording and a bunch of no-name actors - ultimately, it is all too calculated.

The interviews often feel staged, and the fact that the "real" footage suddenly goes static any time something paranormal is about to happen is nothing but a huge letdown for the audience.

In the end, it seems as though the effort director Olatunde Osunsanmi put into making the audience believe in this "real" story backfired. Everything feels too forced, and in the wake of the successful film "Paranormal Activity," "The Fourth Kind" stands no chance.

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