The Day After Tomorrow is rated PG-13. 

Plot: The plot is outlandish. Climate change hits with a vengeance. A hole in the atmosphere opens up and a vaccum is created where the cold of space is funneled down into earth. The instant cold acts like a super freezer and everything is frozen. It stars Randy Quaid as the father of Jake Gyllenhaal. I'm not a Jake fan, so I didn't really like his character. 

Quaid plays a climatologist who is sounding a warning of future problems. In typical fashion, the government doesn't listen to him until tornadoes tear through Los Angeles, California. Yeah, tornadoes. Problem is it's too late to do anything about it.

The big freeze happens and Jake gets caught in New York City with annoying friends and a stupid girlfriend. And when I say stupid I mean intellectually. This spurs Quaid into father mode and he vows to trek from Washington, DC to New York city once the freeze stops.

Long story short, Quaid finds his son.  

What I liked about the Day After Tomorrow: The special effects were tremendous. The movie was done by the same folks who did Independence Day, so you get the whole city special effects. They were monumental when it came to showing the Statue of Liberty frozen in the water. I also liked Quaid's character. As the guy who no one listens to, he could have become annoying, but he didn't. 

There was only one scene I felt was Oscar caliber. A reporting station in Europe realizes that there is no escape when the freeze hits. They show them coming to grips with this. Very touching moments.  

There is also a scene that is cool for what it says. An astronaut in orbit has a high level seat on what the earth is experiencing. Though they never discuss how and when he will be able to leave the space station, he does comment on how clean the earth looks after the disaster occurs. 

What I didn't like about the Day After Tomorrow: Jake Gyllenhaal. Man, I hate his acting. I also didn't like the departure from reason the whole space coming into our atmosphere took to believe. 

Can you watch Day After Tomorrow with kids: No. Seriously, there is nothing worse than having to explain to your kids that the end of the world isn't going to happen. Past that, you don't want to have to explain the difference between global warming and man made climate change. 

Should you watch Day After Tomorrow on a date: Sure, if your date enjoys scifi type movies.

Final thoughts: Four out of five stars from me. The special effects are well worth the watch. You're going to find yourself rewinding just to see some scenes over and over again. The Statue of Liberty scene and the tornadoes in LA are particularly well done. 

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