Deep Impact

(Paramount)

After young Leo Beiderman (Elijah Wood) discovers a comet on a collision course with the earth, everyone learns about life and death and putting things in perspective. TV news reporter Jenny Lerner (a sedated Téa Leoni) stops scrambling for an anchor position long enough to seek a reconciliation between her mother (Vanessa Redgrave) and her father (Maximilian Schell). Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall), a member of the team sent to intercept the comet and blast it with nukes, learns to get along with his cocky young colleagues. And President Beck (Morgan Freeman) takes to the airwaves to reassure the nation that life goes on. Directed randomly by Mimi Leder, Deep Impact is the biggest celestial dud since Kahoutek.