Overrated and overhyped

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Some foreign students coming to American universities don't adapt easily to the environment they find, however nice the professors and mentors are to them. No matter how brilliant they are, there seems to be a sort of wall between their higher goals and the reality of the culture they find in a land that, for all practical purposes might be the moon, as far as they are concerned.This is a story based on an actual incident at the University of Iowa in 1991. Not remembering the actual incident, watching the film we are taken to a sort of situation that probably parallels the original tale in which a Chinese student's relationship with a professor is examined. The casualness of Jacob Reiser's approach to science clashes with his protégé Liu Xing in ways that will end in tragic results. Liu Xing dreams about a possibility of winning a Nobel prize as he begins to question his mentor in aspects concerning the cosmology matters.The film, directed by Chen Shi-Zeng, who is well known for his direction of operas that have played in America, is a beautiful piece of film making. The trouble though is one's own detachment from the lofty subject at the center of the piece. The picture will be appreciated much more by people in this particular field. The main asset is the magnificent music in the background by the Beijing Angelic Choir in the interpretation of classics such as "Ode to Joy", "Beautiful Dreamer" and Schubert's "Serenade" that blend well within the content of the piece.As far as the performances, Ye Lui, a Chinese actor makes a case for his Liu Xing. Meryl Streep, who appears as Joanna Silver, a sort of unofficial counselor to the Chinese student population, has no other explanation of being in the film because of her name, more than what she is asked to do. Aidan Quinn is good as Professor Reiser.

I really wanted to like this film... Great actors, interesting science story, etc. I understand that it is based on an actual event, but I was really hoping for a better constructed ending, with some kind of important message to take away.Please let the film's message be about a brilliant foreign student who overcomes a language barrier and the academic / scientific roadblocks to getting the recognition that he deserves... Or at least be a story about how he doesn't overcome these hurdles, in an inspiring way, so as to give us hope for the future.But no! It ends in an insane classroom shooting and suicide just because the student may have been treated unfairly in getting the credit he may have deserved. (This happens to many people without them going on a shooting rampage)! So what's the message? It's certainly not about my hoped for story line. It's appears to about the need for psychological screening of potentially disturbed people, and maybe the looking for warning signs. No sane person does what they did just because they feel unappreciated or unrecognized. Maybe if the movie could have shown a stronger justification / understanding of the student's action... they could have pulled it off. However, the director + writer really failed to do this. At the end we're just left with a sick feeling of "what a waste"... with no clear message of what to do with the information we just got from the movie's story; and with any compassion for the student that we might have had earlier in the story, washed away.

At least I rented this movie through Redbox, which means I only lost a dollar on the rental. If anything, this movie made me realize what a vast cultural divide there is between Americans and people who come to our country. Liu Ye's entire focus was on coming up with such a phenomenal concept that he would win the Nobel Prize and give his parents great honor. He has no real perception of what a dissertation is supposed to be. He lives and thinks in clichés and is clueless about what is really important. The previews that I had seen of this movie were much better than the actual film. I am shocked that Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn were part of this production.

"Dark Matter" is a fantastic movie. For those frustrated with academic politics or anybody who enjoys a simple movie told well, shot well and acted brilliantly, should see Dark Matter.The writer/director got it right. (Not necessarily details surrounding previous incidents that this may be based on), but the overall attitude of the students, and professors at the university are portrayed perfectly.The story follows a brilliant Chinese student at an American University trying to get his Ph.D. under a successful and respected professor (played by Aidan Quinn). They showed us everything we needed to know about the main character, including contrasts to his fellow Chinese students with very effective, subtle scenes.For the subtlety, effectiveness, simplicity, and brilliance of everything in this movie, "Dark Matter" is one of the best recent films made.