Gibson plays Father Graham Hess, a widower caring for his two children, Morgan (Culkin) and Bo (Breslin), on a Bucks County farm. Following his wife's death six months before, Graham has done his best to keep his family together. He is aided by his younger brother, Merrill (Phoenix), who moved to the farm after the tragedy. But Graham has lost his faith in God and has renounced his vocation. Then, one morning, he awakens to an amazing discovery ((mdash)) crop circles in his fields. At first, he is inclined to believe it's all a hoax, but, as evidence mounts that this may not be the case, he and his family realize that what has happened in their fields may be the first signs that Earth is about to have a close encounter.

I've always been fascinated by crop circles so I was instantly drawn to see this movie. It is a thriller that had me 'thrilled' almost up to the end. But some would say I'm easily frightened. I probably could have done without the religious aspects but other than that it was a great movie that had me jumping at every shadow.

OK, so you haven't heard of any of the actors. In fact you haven't even heard of this movie either, which is a shame because it's one of those Australian movies that redefined 'quirky'. We could be talking a combination of Cosi, Ground Zero, Mad Max, and Priscilla here. You could describe it as science fiction, or you could call it didactic if you had a dictionary handy.

All you really need to know is: There is a drought, some animals behave strangely, and people behave even more strangely. By the end of the movie you may have no idea what it was all about, but you can talk about it for hours afterwards. Where exactly is Raven's Gate, and why did Raven build it there anyway? How did that nuclear scientist polish his nose? Did Wagner write better opera than Rossini?

If movies are about entertainment, what more could you ask for?