In Gattaca, Ethan Hawke plays a would-be astronaut who masks his genetic
inferiority in a society where birth determines success. Uma Thurman plays his
co-worker, whose genes make her look disturbingly like a six-foot-tall mantis. A
murder in the workplace threatens to unravel their lives. Though Gattaca does an
admirable job of creating a mood, it also raises the hope that one day,
genetically-engineered screenwriters will dream up characters who can have more
emotions than happiness, anger, fear, and surliness. Released by Columbia in the
US on 24 October; Britain must wait until March 1998.
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