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Like many other bright and ambitious biologists on the verge of a momentous discovery, Max (James
Roday) and his UCLA lab teammates are excitedly engrossed in their research project on genetics. Under pressure from their boss Dr. Jonas (Eugene Levy) to produce concrete
results, they successfully clone a hamster from a drop of a real hamster's blood. A beautiful journalist Kate (Ali Landry) arrives to interview the young scientists,
especially Max who is largely responsible for perfecting the replicator. Max is attracted to Kate who is at the moment with a rock star. At one time she gets bitten by the
cloned hamster and some drops of her blood fall on the disc used in the replicator. Fatigued, Max later replaces the disc in the replicator and Kate is accidentally cloned.
Max is astounded at his creation and with the help of his associate Henry (Desmond Askew) tries to keep the clone out of sight. The two discover that she is a blank slate,
which they could mold into a man's woman. At Henry's prodding Max agrees to program the clone (which they have named Repli-Kate) to "think like a man"—indulging in sex,
sports and beer more than in feminine niceties. Stronger than most men and far from docile, Repli-Kate complicates Max's life, especially when he's unwilling to satisfy her
insatiable sexual hunger. Keeping her out of the way becomes difficult for Max and Henry who are expected to make a presentation of the replicator in three days.
"Miss USA" titleholder Ali Landry was voted twice by different organizations as one of the world's 50 most
beautiful women and no doubt, these "credentials" of the female lead add to the drawing power of Repli-Kate. Aside from her physical assets, she can act remarkably well
for a newcomer, being able to bring out a clear distinction between the real Kate and the clone. A sex comedy, the film is entertaining, with most of the humor coming from the
fact that Kate's clone is a beautiful woman who thinks and behaves like a man. Advertised as coming from the producers of American Pie 1 and 2, the movie has
indeed sex situations, so expect some to be sort of crude though in context.
Repli-Kate should warn us
of the possible dangers resulting from cloning human beings. In the film, all clones, despite their outwardly perfect appearance, turn out to be disasters of some kind—the
hamsters, Repli-Kate, Repli-Jonas. Cloning advocates claim that cloning could benefit humanity, but considering the web of moral and ethical questions it raises—with all the
issues on "gender bending" or "genetic tinkering" that surround it—geneticists should think twice before venturing into the controversial area of human cloning. In
Repli-Kate,
the clone is not aware of social conventions nor of the moral implications of its acts and like a robot is open to be programmed according to the whims and caprices of its creator. At the end of the movie, one may ask "What happens now to the clone Kate?" Or, "does the clone have a soul?" Those are exactly the same questions that will haunt us when some scientists play God and produce a human being out of a science lab.
(Date reviewed: December 20, 2002)
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