Yes, a new Steven Spielberg movie about close encounters with extraterrestrials is landing — and misses the mark.

The director narrates a scene from his movie that is a continuation, of sorts, of a sequence he filmed for his feature-length debut, “Duel,” in 1971.

As the race goes on, the movie veers between comedy and suspense, action and contemplation, the sounds of squealing tires mixing with sober interludes that touch on belief, reason, trauma, self-govern...