Dark Matter (I) (2007) User Reviews

Streep is surprisingly NOT the best thing here

[MBunge · 6/10 · 10 May 2010]

Dark Matter is a neat little film about the promise and peril of being a Chinese graduate student at an American university. It gives you a peek inside the subculture of young Asians imported into the country in virtual indentured servitude to the careers and egos of middle-aged academics.

Liu Xing (Liu Ye) is a brilliant math student who's come to the U.S. to study with renowned cosmology professor Jake Reiser (Aidan Quinn). He immediately put Xing to work and is impressed with the results, as long as they conform to Reiser's existing theories on the structure of the universe. Xing winds up living with two other Chinese graduate students, Little Square (Li Bo) and Old Wu (He Yu), and becomes friends with Joanna Silver (Meryl Streep), a rich man's wife who's fascinated with China and has become a patron of the constant stream of Chinese graduate students flowing into Professor Reiser's lab. Xing even develops a crush on a pretty townie (Taylor Schilling) who runs the local tea shop. He writes letters back to China telling his parents of how wonderful things are for him in America.

But then things stop being so wonderful. Xing's academic career is stalled when his theories on so-called "dark matter" conflict with Professor Reiser's ideas and a much more Americanized student with the Americanized name of Laurence Feng replaces him on the fast track for a PhD. His townie girl crush tells Xing she just wants to be friends and he eventually ends up selling cosmetics door-to-door. But Xing's letters home remain and bright and cheerful as ever, covering up a black depression that explodes in a moment of violent insanity.

Sadly reminiscent of a tragedy at the University of Iowa nearly 20 years ago, Dark Matter gently engages you in considering a cultural and economic phenomenon that's been around for so long, it's become a cliché. Asian graduate students in the sciences are so numerous, they've become a punch line on shows like Futurama. This film helps you to think of them as real people, the kind of people who want to make money, become Americans, go home or even win a Nobel Prize. It helps you to imagine what it's like to be stranded in a strange land, surrounded by your countrymen but still very much alone.

The acting is also pretty good, though it's odd to see a Meryl Streep movie where she doesn't give the best performance. She's fine, but Joanna Silver's a fairly minor character who contributes more to the atmosphere of the film than she does to the plot. No, the standout actor here is definitely Aidan Quinn. Reiser is the linchpin on which Liu Zing's life turns and Quinn does an excellent job at showing how vanity and envy can dominate the minds of even the smartest men. Liu Ye and Lloyd Suh also draw such a wonderful contrast between the frustrated integrity of Liu Xing that eventually turns in on itself and the vacuous ambition of Laurence Feng that leads to reward, as it so often does in this unfortunate world.

There are a lot of little things to enjoy in Dark Matter. From Reiser's feisty secretary Hildy (Blair Brown) to Xing's interactions with his roommates to Bill Irwin playing Hal Silver, the rich man who tries to tolerate his wife's involvement with the Chinese students. The only quibble I could have with it is that the movie does move very quickly from the beginning to the end of Xing's emotional implosion and it feels like there's about 10 or so minutes of the film that have been left out. A lot of the dialog is also in Chinese with subtitles, so you do have to accept that.

All in all, though, I quite liked Dark Matter. It's a good little movie that deserves a gander.

A Clash of Egos

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 14 April 2009]

(There are Spoilers) Getting the highest entrance scores in the collages history young but very naive Beijing physics grad Liu Xing, Ye Ling, was given the honor to work with the great American cosmologist professor Jacob Reiser, Aidan Quinn, as his #1 assistant. Being very impressed in the work, in both physics and cosmology, he did back in China Prof. Reiser wants Liu to help him with his work in proving the "Reiser String Theory". It's the "String Theory" that, in Reiser's mind, ties together the entire far flung universe into a neat compact and single ball of cosmic wax.

Liu who at first worshiped the ground that the "Great Man"-Professor Reiser- walked on soon came to conclusions that were totally opposite to his "String Theory". This made made the at first friendly and lovable professor a bit ticked off in his #1 assistant Liu making him look foolish by being totally off the mark in how strings keep the universe from drifting apart! What Liu theorized and later proved on paper, with higher mathematics, is that there's in fact undetected but massive amounts of "Dark Matter", instead of strings, that keeps the universe uniformed-in the even distances of its stars nd galaxies from each other-and in tact! By this very simple formula that he was to base his doctoral dissertation on Liu totally destroyed Professor Reiser's flimsy and badly thought out "String Theory". With the professor putting Liu's theory down as just wishful thinking he later had it, behind Prof. Reiser's back, published in a prestigious science magazine that had Reiser-in making his "String Theory" look totally ridicules-really lose it!

Feeling that Liu isn't a "team Player" Prof. Reiser used all his power-as the "Great Man" of science that he is- and influence to destroy Liu career as not only a future Nobel Prize winner but even flunking him and preventing Liu from advancing in the world of science and becoming a physics professor. Liu for his part was totally shocked in his boss-Prof. Reiser-actions since he always thought that the pursuit of knowledge-or science- was above petty politics! Ending up as a delivery boy, selling perfume and body lotion, Liu in finding out that his fellow Chinese grad student Laurence Feng, Llyod Suh, has been picked by Prof. Reiser as the collage's BSY-Best Student of the Year-his brilliant mind completely short-circuited!

In Liu's mind not only was Feng a butt-kissing, in how he always sucked up to Prof. Reiser, creep but that he also dishonored his Chinese culture and forefathers by becoming too Americanized. This act of betrayal to his race was by Feng changing his given Chinese name of Zhang to Laurence, or "Larry", in order to get the very coveted Best Student of the Year Award. What was even worse is that Liu felt, and rightfully so, that he was a far better student then Larry ever was! It was there and then that Liu made up his mind to not only make Larry but Prof. Reiser and all those-the collage faculty-who conspired to destroyed his future in the world of science pay for what they did to him and pay big time!

The movie "Dark Matter", which is based on a true story, was to be released around the time of the April 16, 2007 "Virginia Tech Massacre". It was then that a 23 year-old South Korean exchange student Seung-Hui Cho, much like Liu Xing in the movie, went nuts and gunned down some 30 people. The movie was put on the shelf and released only on DVD some two years later when the "Virginia Tech Massacre" was no longer front page news.

not bad, try again please

[jamesstreet · 5/10 · 26 June 2008]

I watched this with several friends and it was interesting to see who was surprised by the ending and who wasn't. Let there be no doubt, there is a great subject for a plot here. Forget that its based on a true story because its not - that's just marketing and fodder for pointless forum discussions.

What really hurt this movie were the pointless special effects and overly exaggerated sentimental shots, mostly featuring Meryl Streep, interspersed throughout the movie - typically after a scene where the protagonist experiences success or failure. There are only a handful of these shots and they only last seconds – but they are schmaltzy in an otherwise very believable movie. If you're watching even somewhat closely, they give away the movie very quickly.

I'll bet Shi-Zheng Chen goes on eventually to make a truly great movie. This one is about half way there.

Second on "based on a true event"

[bondpont · 2 March 2008]

I just want to second a previous comment on the claim that the film was "based on a true event". In my opinion, the film should certainly change their claim so that the audience know it is NOT (actually far from) a narrative of the true event.

In the true event, the student, Gang Lu, was far from a naive victim whose dream was shattered by academic politics and cultural difference as portrayed by the film, but rather a self-promoting and selfish psycho who couldn't tolerate the fact that another fellow student was better than him. If you are interested, the following links give more details.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_Lu

If you can read Chinese, this link provides much more details, even including Gang's final letter to his sister, the person he felt the closest: http://history.163.com/07/0417/10/3C98P6TC00011248.html

Dark Matter

[mr_popcorn · 6/10 · 21 September 2008]

"The universe is made mostly of dark matter and dark energy, and we don't know what either of them is" - Saul Perlmutter Inspired by actual events, director Chen Shi-Zheng's socially conscious psychological drama follows the journey of an ambitious Chinese scientist working towards his Ph.D. in America, only to be marginalized to the extent that he ultimately loses his way. All Liu Xing (Liu Ye) ever wanted was to study the origins of the universe at a Western university. Upon arriving at the school, Liu immediately rents a modest apartment with a few other Chinese students and begins flirting with the pretty American who works at the local coffee shop. Personally welcomed into Department Head Jacob Reiser's (Aidan Quinn) select cosmology group, Liu remains dedicated to his studies and optimistic about the future. Things continue to look up as Liu becomes close with wealthy university patron Johanna Silver (Meryl Streep) after the two become acquainted at an orientation for foreigners sponsored by a local church.

Eventually, Liu becomes Reiser's protégé, and makes a sizable impression at a prestigious conference attended by the pair. But attitudes start to shift when Liu's studies in dark matter come into direct conflict with his mentor's prominent theories and well-established studies. His excitement about a potential breakthrough causes him to ignore repeated warnings that he must pay his dues, and Liu's findings are eventually eclipsed by that of more studious fellow student Laurence. Determined to have his studies published, Liu goes behind Reiser's back, but he ultimately becomes the target of ire rather than accolades, with Johanna's naïve encouragement prompting him along a dangerous collision course. While Liu remains enamored with the concept of the American dream and optimistic about American science being a free market of ideas, he begins to grow dejected after his dissertation is rejected, the girl at the coffee shop blows him off, and his roommates all find lucrative jobs. Essentially left behind at the university, Liu rejects Johanna's offer for help and vows not to return home to disappointed parents. Now, as he coasts on the fumes of his unrealized dreams, the dishonored student prepares to lash out with one final act of devastating annihilation.

A fairly good film with a promising plot and class A actors but what really brought this film down I think is the way the director handled his cluttered vision of the premise and it came out to messy for me. The special effects were really unnecessary, this is an indie art house flick so its alright if you don't use special effects if its not really called to the occasion. And the repetitive use of overly sentimental shots of lead character Liu Xing was a bit annoying, I mean I already get the scene was emotional, I don't need to stare in the face of a mopey Chinese guy contemplating his streaks of bad luck.

On the other hand though, the actors in the film were really exceptional. Lead Liu Ye, who is apparently a big shot actor in China marks his American debut with this film. The material given maybe a bit too cluttered but he did his best with it and came out really good. I can't really say his debut went out with a bang but he's almost there. Meryl Streep of course, always the pro. You can't go wrong with the lady.

Overall, I'd say the acting was exceptional and the plot is really promising but the material is just too cluttered and messy for my style. Should have left the unnecessary special effects in the cutting room floor.

Dark Matter, getting darker and darker.

[davidtraversa-1 · 7/10 · 11 May 2011]

After a few minutes of watching this movie you realize its tempo is not the tempo of an American film, and despite the fact that it is an American product, the mind behind it is oriental. Completely. In reality one is watching an oriental film shot in the States, with a mixed cast of American and Chinese (japanese also?) actors.

Everybody is excellent in his or her role and the direction is flawless. I think I'm not the only one to have noticed immediately when envy started raising its ugly head, and from then on the outcome is quite predictable.

Even so, it's a beautiful film from beginning to end, with a particular calmness in all the scenes. The episode with the cosmetic line is quite pathetic and both actors are just sublime in it.

They say that we make all those plans for our future and destiny (or whatever you call it) comes and throws everything to the wind. The oriental way to show us that, as subtle as it is in this film, is a thousand times more effective and overwhelming than displaying the usual Hollywood fireworks.

Very worthwhile movie

[rlange-3 · 7/10 · 31 May 2009]

Better at being thought provoking than entertaining in the strict sense of the word, the core of this movie is the conflict between two brilliant men in a high stakes, high power academic setting. One is the Chinese student of modest means, Liu Xing, who comes to the US to study under Reiser, the brilliant American professor, who expects Xing to support his theory as a graduate student. When he doesn't, things go very badly.

The acting is superb across the board. The scenic shots are good, and while the characters tend to exude excessive sentimentality at times, especially Streep, the often vicious nature of competition in academia is captured superbly.

The simplistic viewpoint is that Liu Xing publishes an article attacking Reiser's theory through naiveté. More likely, he was less naive than conceited, and when he lost the game his ego fractured and he raised the stakes.

There is good timing throughout, although at times it drags a bit it never really gets boring. One of the better movies to see.

BTW: There is no math and no theory in the movie. This is about the people, not the theories involved.

Academia

[jotix100 · 6/10 · 21 November 2009]

Some foreign students coming to American universities don't adapt easily to the environment they find, however nice the professors and mentors are to them. No matter how brilliant they are, there seems to be a sort of wall between their higher goals and the reality of the culture they find in a land that, for all practical purposes might be the moon, as far as they are concerned.

This is a story based on an actual incident at the University of Iowa in 1991. Not remembering the actual incident, watching the film we are taken to a sort of situation that probably parallels the original tale in which a Chinese student's relationship with a professor is examined. The casualness of Jacob Reiser's approach to science clashes with his protégé Liu Xing in ways that will end in tragic results. Liu Xing dreams about a possibility of winning a Nobel prize as he begins to question his mentor in aspects concerning the cosmology matters.

The film, directed by Chen Shi-Zeng, who is well known for his direction of operas that have played in America, is a beautiful piece of film making. The trouble though is one's own detachment from the lofty subject at the center of the piece. The picture will be appreciated much more by people in this particular field. The main asset is the magnificent music in the background by the Beijing Angelic Choir in the interpretation of classics such as "Ode to Joy", "Beautiful Dreamer" and Schubert's "Serenade" that blend well within the content of the piece.

As far as the performances, Ye Lui, a Chinese actor makes a case for his Liu Xing. Meryl Streep, who appears as Joanna Silver, a sort of unofficial counselor to the Chinese student population, has no other explanation of being in the film because of her name, more than what she is asked to do. Aidan Quinn is good as Professor Reiser.

Very much an Indie film....but the ending was a complete cop out

[hubcap-83293 · 3/10 · 8 February 2017]

I'm not sure if the ending was so terrible due to lack of budget...or just terrible story telling. Either way....don't let the known actors in this film be your reason for watching it, as even their presence cannot redeem the ending of this film . It was obvious what yet needed to happen to vindicate the main character....and to punish the professor who all along was being built up as a jealous man trying to keep a dead theory in play for his own personal gains....but this you will not see....instead of the last 35-40 minutes of the film.....you see a murder suicide for a "Quick and cheap wrap!" Just another film dumped on the market in hopes of retrieving it's initial investment....which I seriously doubt it did.

Plight of gifted Chinese student, not fully explored.

[jaybob · 6/10 · 17 July 2009]

This is a confusing muddled drama of the sad plight of a brilliant Chinese student at an American university.

This is the first effort of both the director; Shi=Zheng Che & writer Billy Shebar.

If more experienced hands did this movie it very likely would have been handled better.

The student(going for his PHD) is played by LUI YE-- from mainland China, His performance is first rate,He is a major actor in China & its easy to see why.

Aiden Quinn is his mentor & professor & does his usual fine performance. Meryl Streep as a small ,but pivotal role and to me she seems not up to her usual par.

The movie was filmed in Utah, & played in some festivals in 2007, released to very few theatres in 2008 & the box-office was pitiful.

This is one of those films where they expect the audience to know what the story is supposed to be about. I was confused & think all will be as well...

Ratings **1/2 (out of 4) 70 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10)

Too superficial...

[buiger · 5/10 · 28 May 2015]

For a film based on a true story, it could have been much better, much deeper, much more involving. This movie is overly simplistic, too straightforward. Everything is black or white, good or bad. Reality is never like this. A pity really, the premise is actually fascinating. The screenplay should have stuck much more to the truth, to actual events, they should have tried to portrait the characters faithfully, without trying to 'simplify' things for the viewer, to make the film more 'stylistically viable'.

Oh yes, and this is one of the few movies (if not the only one) where Merryl Streeps presence was totally unnoticeable, if not unnecessary.

A beautiful and touching film

[NetflixZZZZ · 8/10 · 4 May 2008]

Loosely based on the 1991 University of Iowa shooting incident, Dark Matter tells a heart-wrenching story of a brilliant mind lost in translation.

Liu Xing (also means Falling Star in Chinese), a young student with humble background, became the elite a few selected to pursue his dreams in America. Shouldering high hopes of folks back home, the naive dreamer works diligently towards 2 goals in life: a Nobel Prize and a blond wife. When his bright future is blocked by the jealous professor, his rosy dreams crushed by cultural clash, and most damaging of all - his pride and dignity eradicated under harsh reality, our protagonist turned into a cruel monster.

The film is skillfully shot, well acted, and thoroughly entertaining with many bitter-sweet humors depicting the tough living conditions of poor Chinese studying in America during late 80's. Meryl Streep is excellent as usual. Liu Ye, one of the best young actors in China today, played the protagonist with powerful emotions that will bring the gentle hearted viewers to tears.

If you are looking for authoritative explanations to the Lu Gang incident or any of the recent school shootings, you will likely be disappointed. According to the director, this is a story based on his own personal experience, aimed to bring awareness to the dark side of the academics circle as well as the overlooked lives of foreign students in America. I feel the script could to be strengthened by more psychological exploration into the protagonist character, so the ending would not appear so abrupt. Yet overall this is a beautiful and touching movie. Not to be missed by people with similar experiences or those who are curious about the subject matter.

Better Than Average Fantasy Thriller - Dark Matter

[arthur_tafero · 6/10 · 14 October 2019]

This film is NOT based on actual events. It is very loosely based on the events of Iowa University graduate student Gang Lu, who suffered from an array of psychological disorders in addition to being a very gifted student in physics. The character portrayed in this film is completely fictitious on a number of different levels. One can dismiss the Nobel Prize angle immediately. Neither the real life Gang or this film character would have been nominated. The Nobel Prize committee never accepts a grad student as a candidate. Also, this is not really a prestigious school; most of the better students in the area of the physical sciences either attend an Ivy League graduate program, Stanford, or MIT, not Iowa University. So in these two instances, the film is not realistic in its screenplay. It is still good fiction, however, and should be judged for its emotional content and ability to keep you glued to your seat. It was tragic what happened to both Gang and to the protagonist in this film, but it is just a movie, and not real life. Winning a minor $2500 prize at a second-rate university is not the same as being nominated for the Nobel Prize. Making comparisons to Gang is not being honest; this character had a sweet and loving personality with no visible signs of mental illness, while Gang was just the opposite. That this person would commit the same acts that Gang committed with the upbringing and personality traits that Liu Xing has in the film is highly unlikely. Another university (hopefully one far more prestigious) would have snapped him up in a New York minute for their research staff. That is assuming his material was accurate as displayed in the film. Major universities get larger federal grants based on their researchers in many instances, so he would have been a sought-after commodity at several top schools. The writers of the screenplay do not seem to understand the mechanics of the American graduate school system and how it relates to research and funding. But despite that, the story, acting and production values still make this a worthwhile film to view.

Tried Way Too hard

[xxtrinaxx · 4/10 · 26 March 2008]

It's surprising that in light of the recent- and all too familiar university shootings director Chen Shi-Zheng had it in him to create an American drama that if only shallowly interpreted sheds a sympathetic light on today's young villains. Although the film overall speaks for the universal and inherent desire for power and fame, the literal and obvious message still remains, 'we drive today's kids to insanity and therefore we are the evil force behind the shootings.' Liu Xing, (played by Chinese superstar Ye Liu), is an Asian cosmology genius awarded a student visa to study in a prestigious US university. With high hopes of becoming a Nobel Prize winner and an eventual scientific icon, Xing promises his family money and personal success as he departs. The movie keeps a cute theme going of Xing writing home between the movie 'chapters.' At first the letters are hopeful and truthfully portraying Xing's life on campus as the head assistant to a superior professor at the university (played by Aiden Quinn). Quinn, as professor Reiser, soon realizes Xing's potential genius and the possible supplementary implications of this- and instead of further motivating Xing he aims at destroying the boy. Xing's theory on dark matter (sadly, a too obvious connection to the film's title) challenges Reiser's and with credibility at that- and therefore challenges his political stature. A fellow student with holes in his dissertation gains all the undeserved recognition by solely keeping congruent with Reiser's theory. Xing refuses to compromise his identity and integrity and it proves to be his single and ultimate downfall. Ultimately the deterioration of Xing's character is a combination of a failing in his academics, (solely due to politics), and the pain he endures having to compose a false, idealistic life to relay home to his parents. The story tragically ends as Xing interrupts a school function and shoots his adviser, professor, fellow students and then himself.

Xing creates sympathy for himself throughout the film as we witness his decay and Ye's performance all the more enhances the effect. Silent tears and a noticeable alcohol and cigarette addiction tear at the viewers while Xing genuinely tries to follow his passion at the dismay of Reiser. At the final scene we feel the pain for Xing- not those slaughtered carelessly.

Dark Matter is a great movie to inspire people to think and start to want to understand each other better! This film had a very intriguing story line, but left me with the impression that there was an excessive degree of effort devoted in trying to turn this film into a thriller. During the scenes with expected emotion and tension, flashy special effects were used to hide the lack of theatrics in the dialogue, filling this film with unsystematic art. The intention was understood, but I don't feel as though it was executed properly. What I liked about the film is that the dialog flowed comfortably and with ease, at almost a relaxing pace allowing you get a sincere feel of the characters. However, this goes against the grain, leading the audience to subconsciously view the protagonist as though he were a victim of society even though he was clearly at fault in the end.

Dark Matter

[uncdrose · 1/10 · 29 June 2009]

At least I rented this movie through Redbox, which means I only lost a dollar on the rental. If anything, this movie made me realize what a vast cultural divide there is between Americans and people who come to our country. Liu Ye's entire focus was on coming up with such a phenomenal concept that he would win the Nobel Prize and give his parents great honor. He has no real perception of what a dissertation is supposed to be. He lives and thinks in clichés and is clueless about what is really important. The previews that I had seen of this movie were much better than the actual film. I am shocked that Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn were part of this production.

a couple of problems

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 1 October 2015]

Liu Xing is recruited from China to work as a graduate student under his hero Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn). Reiser is famous for his model of physics. Liu Xing joins a group of Chinese students who work for Reiser with little pay. They scrounge for food but Liu Xing paints a pretty picture for his hard-working parents back home. Joanna Silver (Meryl Streep) is a rich benefactor for the Chinese students. Liu Xing falls for coffee girl Jackie (Taylor Schilling) but she doesn't feel the same. He starts to push for a different model than Reiser but he's rejected. As each failure piles up, he breaks down in a volatile way.

I have two main problems with this movie. Firstly, this seems to suggest that China is a free source of third world mental labor. I don't think it works quite as well in the present day but it works better back in 1991. Second, the ending is such a different tone that it damages the movie. The movie desperately needs foreshadowing. Liu Xing needs to have a more complex personality. It's like the movie falls a cliff and there is no warning.

Clashes: Cultural, Lingual, Scientific, Emotional

[gradyharp · 9/10 · 18 April 2009]

DARK MATTER is a film that will polarize audiences: for those who seek understanding of the clashes between science and 'religion' and the matrix from which tragedy grows the film will appeal, and for the audiences who demand tidy stories with happy resolutions the film will not please. Apparently 'based on true events', this story has many layers that invite discussion and reveals some facts about the American Academia that many would rather not know.

Liu Xing (Ye Liu) comes from a poor family in Beijing, but rises to hopeful heights due to his exceptional scientific intelligence and is invited to a prestigious university to study with Cosmology professor Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn), the author of the Reiser String Theory - the entire universe is tied into a compact single ball of cosmic wax. Liu Xing encounters initial success not only academically but also as a fresh young student, barely able to speak English, who is taken under the wing of the kind matron of Chinese culture, Johanna Silver (Meryl Streep). Liu Xing develops his own theory that the universe is united by massive amounts of unseen Dark Matter. When the student's theory conflicts with Reiser's theory, the negative results begin to affect each of the characters: Liu Xing sees his dream of earning a PhD in Cosmology and winning the Nobel Prize for his theory destroyed by the powers of academia and as he watches his fellow Chinese students succeed, he is plagued with low self esteem as he attempts to support his family in Beijing with money earned selling cosmetics door to door. The downfall of a simple genius destroyed by the inner workings of academia leads to unimaginable tragedy.

Billy Shebar's screenplay tinkers with the story's credibility with a heavy dose of sentimentality at times, but director Shi-Zheng Chen keeps the story moving by allowing the audience to witness frequent glimpses of Liu Xing's humble Beijing home life. The star of the film is the very talented Ye Liu, but Streep and Quinn carry their rather minor roles with great dignity and understatement. This is a moving story, too frequently repeated in our campuses to overlook. There is much more to this film than first viewings reveal. Grady Harp

What's the message?

[kkuly · 3/10 · 8 August 2009]

I really wanted to like this film... Great actors, interesting science story, etc. I understand that it is based on an actual event, but I was really hoping for a better constructed ending, with some kind of important message to take away.

Please let the film's message be about a brilliant foreign student who overcomes a language barrier and the academic / scientific roadblocks to getting the recognition that he deserves... Or at least be a story about how he doesn't overcome these hurdles, in an inspiring way, so as to give us hope for the future.

But no! It ends in an insane classroom shooting and suicide just because the student may have been treated unfairly in getting the credit he may have deserved. (This happens to many people without them going on a shooting rampage)!

So what's the message? It's certainly not about my hoped for story line. It's appears to about the need for psychological screening of potentially disturbed people, and maybe the looking for warning signs. No sane person does what they did just because they feel unappreciated or unrecognized. Maybe if the movie could have shown a stronger justification / understanding of the student's action... they could have pulled it off. However, the director + writer really failed to do this. At the end we're just left with a sick feeling of "what a waste"... with no clear message of what to do with the information we just got from the movie's story; and with any compassion for the student that we might have had earlier in the story, washed away.

In Space No One Can Hear You Yawn (or snooze)

[Seamus2829 · 4/10 · 18 May 2008]

What we have here is an interesting concept that is turned into a certified snooze festival. An exchange student from China,majoring in Astro Physics, is given the shaft from not just his professor, but the school in general. What results is a downwards spiral for the student, resulting in a deadly confrontation (sound all too familiar already?). Despite crackerjack performances from a top flight cast, this film suffers from a script with enough holes to let entire planets pass through. Meryl Streep & Aidan Quinn are clearly wasted in this lame duck of a political potboiler (even though their performances are worth a look). This little film was released in 2007, but have been getting scattershot distribution. You might consider scoring some no doze to go with that popcorn to get through this.

Shockingly bad

[highlandROX · 1/10 · 18 June 2010]

Awful. Terrible. Depressing. Just appalling.

After watching Dark Matter, the first thought that entered my head was "fail".

This film, perhaps the worst ever seen, had all the right ingredients to produce a great film: a good story, a positive message and great cast. How it ended up being so awful is a mystery.

A combination of strange characters, unnecessary sex-related scenes and a completely ludicrous ending do not make for a pleasant film. The film leaves the audience lost and completely unsatisfied.

The only credit the film as is including the incredible Meryl Streep, the only pleasant aspect of the film. Her small role, however, struggles to make up for the rest of the film's flaws.

Do not waste your time on this film. You have been warned.

Subtlety to Perfection

[napierslogs · 9/10 · 11 May 2009]

"Dark Matter" is a fantastic movie. For those frustrated with academic politics or anybody who enjoys a simple movie told well, shot well and acted brilliantly, should see Dark Matter.

The writer/director got it right. (Not necessarily details surrounding previous incidents that this may be based on), but the overall attitude of the students, and professors at the university are portrayed perfectly.

The story follows a brilliant Chinese student at an American University trying to get his Ph.D. under a successful and respected professor (played by Aidan Quinn). They showed us everything we needed to know about the main character, including contrasts to his fellow Chinese students with very effective, subtle scenes.

For the subtlety, effectiveness, simplicity, and brilliance of everything in this movie, "Dark Matter" is one of the best recent films made.

Life is short; if you watch this movie you'll never get that time back

[bradley_p_wood · 1/10 · 18 July 2009]

Every now and then a movie comes along that is so bad somebody needs to pay. I was motivated to at least create an account here and warn others.

This is a very dramatic movie. I'm very tolerant of dramatic, slow moving films. I often like them when few others do. But this stinker is the epitome of a slow moving, do nothing, say nothing movie. To complete the stink bomb, the ending is void of any redeeming value whatever.

To reiterate - I'm very tolerant of off beat movies that most people don't like. There's nothing in this movie to like. No pithy lines, no stimulating interaction between characters; just non-thought provoking depression.

I've seen plenty of movies that are just plain awful, but they're usually just silly or weird without merit. This one is in a class of it's own; it's disturbingly bad. Someone's gotta pay.

Could the Virginia Tech shooting make "Dark Matter" relevant?

[mrsouth · 4/10 · 17 April 2007]

I wasn't a fan of "Dark Matter" when I saw it at Sundance. It had its moments, but overall, this story about a Chinese student in America whose brilliant theory about dark matter never sees the light of day because of university politics is not the least bit compelling. Nor does it even make sense. One minute, he's being asked to test his ground-breaking theory in three different ways rather than one (something he should be able to do), and the next he's going on an insane shooting rampage to avenge his overlooked genius.

What got me thinking about "Dark Matter" again was Virginia Tech. In the Q&A, director Shi-Zheng Chen claimed his film was based on a real case where a disgruntled Chinese student at an American university shot a number of people for a similar reason. And now it came out today that the Virginia Tech shooter was a "legal alien from South Korea," whose motive is still unknown or at least unreleased.

Since Virginia Tech senior Cho Seung Hui was an English major - basically the opposite of astronomy - and hailed from South Korea rather than China, the similarities between this real life shooter and the main kid in "Dark Matter" likely will never extend beyond the totally superficial. But even these surface parallels could be enough to artificially make the ending of "Dark Matter" more chilling and disturbing.

Perhaps this will help Dark Matter's chances for a theatrical release by transforming an irrelevant, unmemorable indie failure into a timely, insightful prophesy. Or, if "Dark Matter" still doesn't get distribution, the filmmakers can use the real life tragedy as an excuse to potential investors in future projects: "We were on the verge of getting distribution, but then Virginia Tech happened, and the subject matter became too upsetting to be considered for wide release."

Most likely, like so many films at Sundance, Dark Matter's sold-out opening night at one of the world's best film festivals will prove to have been the peak of its achievements.

Dark Matter Doesn't

[secondtake · 2/10 · 30 June 2009]

Dark Matter (2006)

Dark Matter Doesn't

It's great to see a movie the focuses on Chinese students in an American college setting, with the pressures and cross-cultural humor. At the college I teach at, there is a huge population of Asian students (many or most are Chinese) and they are a great presence on and off campus. Much of the dialog in Dark Matter is in Mandarin (I think) with subtitles. And so there is real interest for that.

But this international slant is not enough to make the movie a good movie. What happened to plot, continuity, vision, editing, and oh, don't forget, acting? Even Meryl Streep is just a small time ham in this setting, at ease more with herself than her role. This is great drive-in fare, for the second show. If you have a science or astrophysics/cosmology background, you'll find it especially vexing, I think. I did.

The plot is a drawn out version of a somewhat familiar story: the brilliant kid (played by a very sweet Ye Lui) at college facing obstacles to his/her greatness (as a science wiz). As in Good Will Hunting. In this case, Streep is an American who likes Chinese culture, so she is a likable ambassador to show our main character around. And to do Tai-Chi now and then. And there is the issue of the students, mainly the rivalry between them to win over the professor and get to speak at a conference.

In a way, none of this serious stuff matters. It's really a romantic comedy, alternating between saccharine touchy-feely land and goofy silliness, all of which we've seen before, and some of which is genuinely funny if you relax about the whole thing.. Director Shi- Zheng Chen's first film might not be his last, so cross your fingers that he keeps the good stuff and develops his art, and gets good scriptwriters.

The only thing I can think of that motivated this movie is that it was aimed at a cross- over between Chinese and Chinese-American audiences. Who knows, with the rising tides in China's science community, it's growing love of movies, and it's continuing competition with the United States in all things, this kind of easy-to-digest tale might just be a hit there.

And the ending? Meant to be high drama, it's a total cheap sensationalist cop out, and downright ugly all around. I found it almost shameful it was so forced and violent. Unless you are really interested in some of the underlying themes, skip this one.

I Hope Your Happy Now

[valis1949 · 9/10 · 29 April 2009]

No one can know what is in the mind of another-especially in the case of mass murder. Shi-Zheng Chen, director of DARK MATTER, has created a fresh vision of America from the point of view of a recent arrival to this country. Liu Ying, masterfully played by Ye Liu, is a Chinese graduate student who has come to the US to study Cosmology with a professor that he has idolized his entire life. Ying's life seems to be filled with unlimited possibility, and the answers to all of his dreams and wishes seem just around the corner. DARK MATTER's forte is the portrayal of the energized spirit in this young graduate student. The film is shot in Big Sky country of Utah, and this location perfectly mirrors this limitless potential. Ying's area of study is the examination of dark and uncharted areas of the cosmos which seem to exert dramatic effects on the nature of life. These 'dark areas' are mirrored in the clandestine machinations of the politics of graduate school. It seems that the unfettered life of the mind only works if new ideas are able to fit within intellectual processes which have been well established over time. And this becomes the dilemma of the film. How can the free and uninhibited flow of ideas intersect with the rigidity of higher education? The sudden and shocking climax to the movie is a resolution to this issue, although certainly not a fair or just one. DARK MATTER shows how violence can be the inescapable consequence of murdered hope.