Gattaca

In the not-too-distant future, parents are able to choose their offspring's precise genetic makeup. Vincent (Hawke) was one of the last "natural"-born individuals, with all his defects, including poor eyesight and a heart problem that carries a high probability he will not survive past 30. He yearns to travel into space, but his genotype will not allow that. So he finances a scheme to buy another man's identity: that of a former athlete (Law) with top genetic background who has been crippled after a car accident. With his new credentials and the system-cheating methods to back them up, he gets positioned to join a crew to Titan, one of Saturn's moons, but the director of his section is murdered and a police investigation, led by a dogged Columbo-type detective (Arkin) closes in on him, just as a sleek coworker (Thurman) becomes attracted to him -- days before the flight. Low key, visually sumptuous, with a mostly lush and languid score by Michael Nyman, "Gattaca" is a thoughtful, mentally provoking film rather than an exhilarating thriller. Except for a silly recurring swimming duel theme, it was a very impressive 1997 debut by New Zealand-born writer-director Andrew Niccol, who wrote the screenplay for "The Truman Show" a year later. The title comes from the letters used to label the four primary nucleotides that make up DNA (guanine, adenine, thymine, cytosine), and there are many other witty touches: FBI agents called "Hoovers" to recall a certain infamous director and the many vacuum cleaners used in the plot, Thurman's character (Irene Cassini) named after the division in Saturn's rings, and charming supporting appearances by Gore Vidal, Ernest Borgnine, Tony Shalhoub, Elias Koteas, and, if you look fast, volleyball player/model Gabrielle Reece as a Gattaca Trainer. Perhaps the ultimate irony is that Hawke and Thurman, cast as the gorgeous but genetically flawed romantic leads in this film, subsequently