By Eric Anderson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 19, 1998

Mind over matter

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Arizona Daily Wildcat Samuel L. Jackson, Sharon Stone and Dustin Hoffman probe the depths of both the sea and their souls in Barry Levinson's "Sphere."

Imagine - what if you had the power to make your wildest dreams come true?

Would you want it? Before you answer, what if, along with your fantasies, your worst fears would also start materializing before your eyes?

Still want it?

This is one of the questions raised by Academy Award winning director Barry Levinson ("Rain Man," "Good Morning Vietnam") in his latest film, "Sphere," a sci-fi thriller based on the best-selling novel by author Michael Crichton.

A mysterious, enigmatic sphere is found at the bottom of the ocean that has the apparent power to reach into the depths of a person's mind and make manifest his subconscious thoughts.

Levinson has assembled an all-star cast, led by two-time Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman, along with Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson.

Hoffman stars as Dr. Norman Goodman, a psychologist who is unexpectedly sent for by the U.S. government, along with a biochemist (Stone) and a mathematician (Jackson). The trio is sent down into the depths of the Pacific to explore a spacecraft that appears to have been sitting, untouched and without decay, for almost 300 years on the ocean floor.

Also joining the submerged scientists is Barnes (Peter Coyote), the somewhat mysterious, and seemingly secretive, team leader, and Ted Fielding, played by Liev Schreiber ("Scream 2", "Phantoms"), a young, nerdy astrophysicist, who is desperately trying to make a name for himself amongst the scientific community.

As they explore the strange ship, the team discovers the sphere inside. Its purpose and design are inexplicable, but somehow it seems to possess intelligence, as well as a mysteriously seductive aura.

I have to admit I was skeptical at first. You can't just throw three huge stars on the screen, yell "Action!" and expect a winner. But the on-screen chemistry of Hoffman, Stone and Jackson is excellent - in fact, it is about the only thing that makes sitting through the 118 minutes of film worthwhile. Hoffman gives his typical high-caliber performance; Stone seems to have learned how to act while fully-clothed, relying on her acting ability instead of her body to sell a scene; and Jackson does not disappoint, as usual, providing much of the wit and sarcasm in the movie through his array of one-liners.

There is one scene where the scientists are put into a decompression chamber (to adapt their bodies to the depths of the ocean) and they are inhaling helium, altering their voices to the pitch of Alvin and the Chipmunks. At one point, Jackson chimes in with, "Follow the yellow brick road," sounding just like one of those lil' mucnhkins from OZ. This scene alone makes the movie worth seeing.

Besides the acting of the "big three," the dazzling special effects and quality camera work also add quite a bit to an otherwise drawn-out, at times dull, story line.

Overall, "Sphere" is a cerebral sci-fi thriller that keeps you guessing until the end - the only question is: can you make it that far?