The cries of "Why?" over "United 93" might better be applied to this spectacular but uninvolving remake of "The Poseidon Adventure," the 1972 Irwin Allen production that kick-started the modern-day disaster genre. Updating the story of a capsized luxury liner, the $160 million production boasts more than a few astounding set pieces. Among the willing cast, only Jacinda Barrett and topliners Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss manage, just barely, to suggest a third dimension to the script's cursory character sketches.

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