The title for this movie refers to physical affect that a large comet would have on the planet, should we collide. But the movie here is more of a reflection of the mental aspects of this disaster. This is a typical disaster movie, and it makes me wonder if somewhere in Hollywood there are generic scripts Action Movie, Sappy Romance, Romantic Comedy, Legal Thriller. It appears the directors and producers here pulled out Disaster Movie (just like James Cameron did for Titanic, and Roland Emmerich will for Godzilla), but the difference in these movies is in the execution. Anyone can follow a guide, or steps, it's the premise of the majority of jobs in society today, the difference lies in how it is done.
Deep Impact is pulled off acceptably (not as well as Titanic, which mixed the Rebel-Steals-Rich-Girl plot, with Disaster Plot, and mixed some astounding visual and audio effects to create a wondrous picture), but then again, any movie with Morgan Freeman is worth watching just for his performance. He seems to exist mainly as the narrator, and transitions us through the crisis. There are hints of other interesting side plots, and some dangling loose ends, which are never followed, and pertinent scenes, which are never shown. The performances, other than Freeman, are just okay. Tea Leoni' gets the most screen time of this ensemble cast, and shows signs of emotion and potential, but mostly just follows her spot in the script. The waste of talent in this movie goes to Elijah Wood's character. Wood, who is a wonderful actor, is given a role that any teen heartthrob with 1/100th of Wood's skill could've done. The best performance is given by the crew of astronauts sent up after the comet, led by the always wonderful Robert Duvall, but also including Ron Eldard (from one of my favorite movies, The Last Supper), Blair Underwood (from L.A. Law), Jon Favreau (the "so money" one from another favorite Swingers.
The ending is..actually better than I thought you could pull off with the obvious and inevitable solutions, and overall, I left the theater, marveling at the effects, satisfied with the story, but as so many times before, wishing that it could've been just a bit smarter, and thrown away the formula script for once