Really Surprised!

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse) examines a green field in the middle of the frozen Arctic. Her research is being blocked but she discovers a rapid climate change underway. Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen) and Calvin (Richard Schiff) working a radio telescope discover a signal from 14.6 light years away. It goes away before confirmation. Their NASA JPL boss Phil Gordian (Ron Silver) cuts the program claiming budget cuts. Then he destroys the data and blackballs Zane. The only job he can get is installing TV satellites. His marriage to Char (Teri Polo) is under stress. Using satellite dishes, he creates a personal radio telescope to search for the signal with the help of nosy neighbor kid Kiki. Both Green and Zaminsky zero in on a Mexican location.This is a nice paranoid conspiracy alien invasion movie. I like Sheen's side of the story. I doubt that both investigations would lead to the exact same place. Climate science isn't that precise. As for assassination attempts, crushed by a bathtub is one of the most unusual and laughable. It seems so much easier and more common to simply shoot them. However, I do really like the black hole metallic spheres.After a really good first half, the movie starts to run into problems. It's still pretty good. David Twohy is most notable for the Riddick franchise. He needs to simplify the second half and ramp up the action. It tries to be too cute with the story. The movie needs to end in Mexico or else there is an obvious simpler way for Zane to expose the conspiracy.

While the monumental and most expensive alien invasion picture of 1996 was declaring our independence, a small budget sci-fi thriller overachieves with an intriguing storyline and a well-written script. David Twohy, a screenwriter ("Waterworld," "The Fugitive") makes his feature debut as both a writer and director with "The Arrival." It's a lean piece of writing that moves quickly, and has some unexpected twists along the way. Those who crave conspiracy theories and cover ups, your time will not go to waste.Radio astronomer Zane Ziminsky (Charlie Sheen) believes he's picked up a cosmic noise that signals extraterrestrial intelligence. But after turning over the tape to his boss, Zane loses his job, his girlfriend gets transferred, and his once partner is found dead. Zane's desperate search for answers leads him to a mysterious power plant in Mexico generating much more than just electricity, and run by people who are not what they appear to be. The film's main strength arises from Twohy's writing, which manages to maintain decent dialogue, even when the plot mechanics take over. The movie never sinks into the realm of straight-to-video disaster. Sheen isn't ideally cast in the role of a scientist, but he is respectable and maintains a high level of intensity. The responsibility for the movie lies fully on Sheen's shoulders, and he carries the burden admirably. A overachieving low-budget sci-fi film with an interesting premise that is hampered by only a weak ending.

Charlie Sheen plays Zane, a radio astronomer who accidentally discovers an alien signal from space, that also has origins on Earth. When he tries to tell his boss(Ron Silver, very good) he downplays and denies the importance of the find. Zane then finds out he has been fired, and the tape he gave to his boss disappears, so now very suspicious, he undertakes his own investigation, which leads him to an alarming truth about aliens who are indeed very much among us...Well written and directed by David Twohy, this science fiction film is a pleasant surprise, and Charlie Sheen is appealing and believable as the man determined to find the truth, and warn the world; sounds like a certain FBI agent from "The X-Files"...

Seems like quite a few give The arrival negative reviews. Some people always complain. You have to use your imagination while watching this movie.First of all: I liked Charlie Sheen. He plays a nerd with a goatee who is a little bit like MacGyver. He can construct a lab in his attic with duct tape and some stuff bought at the local store. That is cool. He has a street wise attitude also. I also like the paradox that Charlie Sheen is a super smart astronomer. It makes my mind itch in a good way. Granted, he has a standard expression that gets a bit tiresome at times, but you'll just have to live with it!! After all, you haters almost got to see Sheen killed by a collapsing bath room floor. That was a great scene!Secondly: There is a love story here that I liked. I don't find the woman particularly attractive and I don't like her business attitude, but there are some tender scenes. Thirdly: I liked the aliens and how they had infiltrated society and dressed up in human skins. It was cool that one of the aliens in Mexico had the same face as Sheen's boss. What was really good was that the aliens had an agenda that they never gave up, and the boss explained that they just did in 10 years what humans would do themselves in 100. The aliens can also jump 5 meters into the air. So this is waaaay cooler than Independence day. Here, we see smart aliens, and we actually care about the main character.