‘The Fourth Kind’ provides middling alien abduction thrills

“The Fourth Kind”

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas

Director: Olatunde… “The Fourth Kind”

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas

Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Studio: Universal Studios

Grade: C+

A film that’s as rigorously advertised as being “based on actual case studies” as the new film “The Fourth Kind” raises questions about whether one should trust a story about extraterrestrial activity in an Alaskan town.

These doubts are only intensified by star Milla Jovovich’s opening disclaimer, in which she dares the audience to believe what they choose to believe.

The “Resident Evil” leading lady plays Dr. Abbey Tyler, a psychologist who treats patients who all complain about the same strange problem — paranoia after seeing a white owl outside their houses at night.

Tyler believes that aliens have invaded the town, and the movie becomes an inadvertent plea to the audience to jump on her bandwagon.

“The Fourth Kind” is a self-professed dramatization of the true events during and after Tyler’s study of the suicides that took place in Nome, Alaska, and brainchild of writer-director Olatunde Osunsanmi.

Tyler is especially sensitive to the occurrences of the Alaskan town and is devoted to finding an explanation. Her husband was mysteriously and brutally stabbed in bed next to her while the pair were in town conducting a study.

All on which she can depend is her resentful son, her blind daughter Ashley (Mia McKenna Bruce) and her own psychiatrist (Elias Koteas) in the face of the heavy opposition to her methods spearheaded by the ever-doubting Officer August (Will Patton). Only with the help of a famous author-historian can Tyler draw a conclusion from her research: aliens.

The film intertwines the cinematic dramatization with authentic video and audio documentation of the candid interviews between Osunsanmi and Tyler and the unsettling sessions with Tyler and her Nome patients.

Still, several of the characters have aliases to protect the identities of those they represent.

The term “fourth kind” refers to the most extreme and dangerous level of human-to-alien interaction. In one word, it is abduction.

I found myself instantly turning off my mind when I entered the theater to watch a film that was about such a seemingly ludicrous topic. I can’t say I am fully convinced that Tyler’s story is true or if it is just a paranoia-induced machination.

However, the film is interesting and the incorporation of Dr. Tyler’s real-life work is never as dull as it should be.

At times though, the splicing of authentic material with the filmed footage was too gimmicky for a movie that takes itself so seriously.

Jovovich certainly committed to the role, and it’s almost possible to ignore the fact that she bears no resemblance to the real Tyler.Overall, the performances were average and were greatly overshadowed by the plot.

For those who enjoy the science fiction and thriller genres, “The Fourth Kind” will enthrall, but for everyone else, it’s just a mildly entertaining way to kill 90 minutes.