After watching this movie, I figured it was a straight-to-streaming movie, and it seemed about right for that genre. Mildly entertaining, but not really that great, “65” has the level of quality you used to find in a lot of TV movies. Turns out, though, that this film had a regular theatrical release, meaning it deserves to be judged by a higher standard. It was also written by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who wrote the outstanding “A Quiet Place,” making it that much more surprising that “65” is so mediocre.
Adam Driver plays Mills, an interstellar pilot from the planet Somaris, on a 2-year exploratory mission. His ship is damaged by asteroids, and he has to crash land on a nearby planet. Everyone on the ship is killed except for Mills and a young girl, and Mills sets out to get the pair of them to the ship's escape pod, which has landed 15 km away. Did I mention that Mills took this 2-year job to pay for medical treatment for his teenage daughter back on Somaris, or that these aliens look exactly like humans?
I should also mention that the planet Mills and his young charge find themselves on is Earth, and this is all taking place 65 million years ago. Fans of pre-history will recognize that that date means Mills must contend not only with dinosaurs, but with a certain fateful asteroid that caused those dinosaurs' extinction.
“65” is watchable for only 2 reasons. 1: Dinosaurs. That speaks for itself. 2: Adam Driver. He is such a compelling actor that he can elevate even the lamest of films. Still, in this case he only partly carries it off. For some reason, Beck and Woods, who not only wrote, but directed, this mess, spend much of the film having Driver hyperventilate as he deals with various crises. I guess it's meant to be realism, but a blind person could be forgiven for mistaking this movie for an obscene phone call. The film is also full of contradictions, including why a child would be on what is described as a mission of exploration. That title, by the way, references the 65 million years ago timeframe, but it is also how sappy this movie is on a scale of 1 to 10.
2 stars out of 5
(For a somewhat similar story in a much better movie, check out 2018's "Prospect".)
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