“Arrival” is a thinking person’s sci-fi film that is thoughtful and emotional, said Jeremy Renner, who plays a physicist in the movie.
“Like any piece of art, which I think this film is, everybody has a different takeaway on it and I love that," Renner said in a phone interview with the Deseret New. "It’s not a sort of argument necessarily to have, but it’s a conversation starter. It’s a thriller with a bit of smart, thinking person’s film."
“Arrival,” which opens Nov. 11, is based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang and stars Amy Adams, Forest Whitaker and Renner as a part of a team who goes to investigate an alien spaceship in hopes to communicate with and discover why these aliens have arrived on Earth after 12 different alien spaceships mysteriously land across the globe.
The movie has a lot of different messages and themes that viewers can take away after seeing it. Renner said that, in his opinion, the ultimate thing the movie speaks to is what divides people, what unites people and how amazing it could be at this point if people were united as a human race.
Renner suggested comparable titles such as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977, PG), “Contact” (1997, PG), “Interstellar” (2014, PG-13) and “Gravity” (2013, PG-13).
“Arrival,” which is rated PG-13 for brief strong language, is directed by Denis Villeneuve, whose previous filmography includes “Incendies” (2010, R), “Prisoners” (2013, R), “Enemy” (2014, R) and “Sicario” (2015, R). After working with Villeneuve in “Arrival,” Renner had high praise for the director, saying that he has the best strengths of Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick.
“I’m comparing Denis to two of the most well known and best directors I think we’ve ever had and Denis is definitely that,” Renner said.
“Arrival” first debuted at the Venice Film Festival on Sep. 1 and proceeded to screen at other notable film festivals including the Telluride Film Festival Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, receiving high praise every step of the way.
It has a perfect 100 percent "fresh" rating on the movie review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes after 51 reviews counted as of Wednesday afternoon.
The Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes says, “‘Arrival’ delivers a must-see experience for fans of thinking person’s sci-fi that anchors its heady themes with genuinely affecting emotion and a terrific performance from Amy Adams.”
“I think the film speaks for itself about the director and (Amy Adams) and everybody else," Renner said. "I’m very, very proud of this film and I don’t always say that about very many films, but I’m so happy to be a part of this for sure.”
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