The Arrival

When a radio astronomer (Charlie Sheen) receives a transmission from space and nobody at NASA wants to hear about it, he and a global-warming researcher (Lindsay Crouse) converge in central Mexico, where extraterrestrials disguised as humans are waiting to adapt our planet for their own purposes. Writer-director David Twohy, best known for his work as a writer on The Fugitive, Alien , and Waterworld, has a creepy notion or two up his sleeve and loads of free-floating paranoia to exploit, but either no idea of how to cut a film or no power to resist the recutting of others. Either way, this is a collection of bits and pieces that never manages to gather any momentum. Another problem is Sheen, who looks so bug-eyed at times that he seems to be trying to gross out the aliens. With Ron Silver (creepier than usual), Teri Polo, Richard Schiff, and Tony T. Johnson. (JR) Read more