Usually when I sit down to write a review, my mind starts to spin along such tracks as: "Did I like it?" "Will anyone else like it?" "Why by the name of all that's holy would someone actually bother to film that piece of cinematic garbage?" This time, however, I can't seem to get one thought out of my head, and I hope you'll indulge me for a bit. You see, for some mysterious and disconcerting reason, the casting director of "Deep Impact" managed to choose mainly Oscar-caliber actors and the stars of canceled T.V. shows. For some reason, this puzzled me to such an extent that throughout the film I tried to remember from what T.V. show the actors hailed or for what movies others were Oscar-nominated. It was strangely hypnotic, sort of like the ever-popular "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game.

I'm serious--this bothered me all through the movie. First of all, we have Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni, of the now-defunct "Naked Truth") as a reporter who uncovers what she thinks is a scandal involving Secretary of the Treasury Alan Rittenhouse (James Cromwell, who received an Oscar nod for his portrayal of Farmer Hoggett in "Babe"). Lerner works for MSNBC, as do her supervisor Beth Stanley (Dr. Kerry Weaver of "ER," the one exception to the canceled-show theory) and Bruce Weitz (Belker of "Hill Street Blues" fame). The scandal that Jenny Lerner accidentally stumbles upon is not the extra-marital affair of a government official but a comet heading for the Earth, scheduled to make direct contact with our planet in just a few years. The comet is initially discovered by astronomy club member and high school student Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood, who hasn't won an Oscar yet, but it's just a matter of time, really. The kid's good).

Luckily, the U.S. government has a plan for the survival of the human race and life as we know it. President Beck (Morgan Freeman, who has garnered three Oscar nominations to date) assures the people of the United States that there is a two-fold plan in place: first, a bold group of astronauts (among them Robert Duvall--one Oscar and five nominations; Ron Eldard--Shep of "ER" and one of the guys on "Men Behaving Badly"; and Blair Underwood--Jonathan Rollins of "L.A. Law") will attempt to use a bunch of high-tech gizmos to knock the comet off its collision course. If that doesn't succeed, 800,000 U.S. citizens will be chosen by lottery to join a group of 200,000 preselected artists, scientists, and other necessary figures live for two years in pre-drilled caves until the Earth is inhabitable again.

Much of the movie's drama comes from learning who will live and who will die. There is romance in the person of Leo Biederman, in love with a classmate and fellow astronomy club member (her parents, by the way, are played by Denise Crosby, better known to Trekkies as Tasha Yar; and Richard Schiff, AKA Barry Roth of "Relativity"). Conflict springs up between Jenny Lerner's divorced parents (Vanessa Redgrave--one Oscar and six nominations, and Maximilian Schell--one Oscar and three nominations), and the daughter must then somehow concentrate on her familial obligations, a promotion to anchor at MSNBC, and the impending doom that draws closer each day. Even the astronauts are not immune to tension, mostly brought on by the fact that Duvall's Spurgeon Tanner is so much older than the rest of the crew.

Mainly this movie is made without any regular actors; you know, the kind whom everyone recognizes from the big screen but who never manage to get the recognition from the Academy for their work. Put another way, there are no Alec Baldwins in this picture. Maybe there is some vast conspiracy to merge the worlds of great actors and stars of defunct T.V. shows. Why this would be, I still can't imagine. Perhaps it really is a diversionary tactic, designed to distract viewers just enough from the movie so they won't see any flaws. Or maybe it is like a workshop for actors--"be a part of this picture and get to observe the greats in action!" Then again, maybe the film is so very average that my mind was free to concentrate on such trivia as this.

As for the movie itself--well, it isn't bad. It also isn't great. The effects, done by Industrial Light and Magic, look very good, better than most CGI I've seen lately. There is plenty of carnage and destruction, and, as the trailer and the posters promise, "Oceans rise. Cities fall. Hope survives." I suppose my biggest gripe is that I wasn't really interested in any of the characters. I didn't get the feeling that having any of them wiped off the face of the Earth would be a tremendous loss to the human race. There were a few moments when the music swelled and someone did something heroic when I did feel sort of warm and fuzzy, but those moments were rare. I didn't look at my watch, but I wasn't sorry when the movie ended, either. I guess "Deep Impact" is just another summer blockbuster designed to wow the audience with the way it looks rather than by its content. It's not a bad way to kill a few hours, but I'd advise going to a matinee--no sense splurging on this one.