Interstellar (B or 3/4 stars)
Christopher Nolan's ambitious, mind-bending sci-fi epic 'Interstellar' dazzled me as often as it confounded me. Its stellar performances & amazing technical filmmaking got me through the nearly 3 hours of technobabble (my favorite moments were in silence when no characters were yacking away). Now, 'Interstellar' is what I'd call a big 'event movie'; an experience. And though I have issues with the film, it will likely improve for me with subsequent viewings. Having said that, most films shouldn't have to rely on extra viewings for audiences to get optimal understanding or enjoyment. As my friend Erica notes, "It shouldn't have to take a village to figure out what's going on". But I digress. The narrative is conveyed in 3 distinct segments; each encompassing nearly an hour.
The 1st hour: In the near distant future, Earth is dying due to overpopulation & climate change. Astronaut-turned-corn farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) keeps his family safe from the frequent dust storms that ravage the land. Famine is rampant & the world is suffocating with depleting oxygen levels. But Cooper's precocious 10 yr. old daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) & teen son Tom (Timothee Chalamet) are determined to do their part to save what's left of their world. Situations arise in which Cooper is recruited by Prof. Brand of NASA (Michael Caine) to pilot a space exploration mission. The main objective? To fly past Saturn & propel into a cosmic wormhole to another galaxy in search of a new Earth-like planet to exist on. Also aboard is Brand's scientist daughter, Amelia (Anne Hathaway), co-pilot Doyle (Wes Bentley), astrophysicist Romilly (David Gyasi), & a cheeky robot named TARS (voiced by Bill Kirwin).
I liked most of this segment because a) it sets up the dire situation at hand quite beautifully, and b) it displays the loving, playful relationship that Cooper has with his family; particularly daughter, Murph. They are extremely close and, when Cooper is departing for the mission, his tear-filled exclamation of "I'm coming back" does not sooth his angry, confused, inconsolable daughter. But also near the end of this segment - when Michael Caine starts explaiiiiiiining the ins-&-outs of the mission ad nauseum - I started to get a teeny bit lost; looking forward to the actual space sequences so I could see the mission for myself; rather than hearing about it.
The 2nd hour: After passing through the black hole Gargantua, their spaceship visits what's called Miller's Planet, an Earth-like place where mile-high tidal waves put potential human colonization out of the question. The 1st leg of this mission goes terribly wrong and, by staying on this planet too long, they realize that a few extra hours THERE means that some 23 yrs. have already passed back on Earth. Meanwhile, time is running out for everyone back home. Murph (now Jessica Chastain) is a cynical scientist who has never gotten over the idea that her father abandoned the family to search for life elsewhere when he could have been home. Simultaneously, Cooper becomes increasingly distraught that he may never see his kids again; facing stiff opposition as he tries to get the mission to return home.
And the 3rd Hour: Despite some laborious exposition about the space-time continuum & incomprehensible black hole/5th-dimensions, Cooper's desperate space travel heroics take over. Hans Zimmer's operatic music score & the film's sound team give us a sonar blast that had me gripping my armrest. We see ice planets, frozen clouds, a tense docking scene, & all manner of terrifying-yet-gorgeous visuals. But the quest concludes with headscratching quasi-religious scenes which try to explain metaphysics, as well as conveying the bewildering mysteries of love, time, gravity ... even ghosts. Aside from the slightly confusing plot points (which will iron themselves out with repeat viewings), I had 2 tangible issues with this otherwise spectacular movie.
1) a large subplot involving a character named Dr. Mann did not sit well in the story, for me. And 2) I cry easily during movies, people. This movie will make a lot of people cry. The emotion onscreen in the final 30 minutes is amped up high. And yet ... for one reason or another (a particular bedside scene), I wasn't moved to tears. Tears ... can make me forgive a lot of minor problems that I have with a movie. Performance-wise, McConaughey, Hathaway, & Chastain emote convincingly. McConaughey gives, for me, the best performance of his career -- he moved me most of all. Chastain, while excellent, is forced to make magic out of a highly underused/written 3rd Act role. John Lithgow, Matt Damon, & Ellen Burstyn provide support in small roles, though, the effect of their performances vary.
You know, Christopher Nolan is such a visionary filmmaker. I've always admired & been (mostly) thrilled by his work. i.e., The Batman Trilogy, Inception. But despite some wonderful aspects, something didn't quite click this time. The premise (finding planets to live on in other galaxies, solving essential equations involving time/space/gravity in order to see loved ones again) ... is captivating. But the execution of the premise is not as captivating. The pacing goes off. Too much is explained. A shorter, more streamlined movie that still tackled the basic scientific premise, the power of love, & speculation about mankind's future could have provided a more consistently satisfying movie experience. No movie this good (or potentially great) should have been as much of a chore as it is.
The 1st hour: In the near distant future, Earth is dying due to overpopulation & climate change. Astronaut-turned-corn farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) keeps his family safe from the frequent dust storms that ravage the land. Famine is rampant & the world is suffocating with depleting oxygen levels. But Cooper's precocious 10 yr. old daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) & teen son Tom (Timothee Chalamet) are determined to do their part to save what's left of their world. Situations arise in which Cooper is recruited by Prof. Brand of NASA (Michael Caine) to pilot a space exploration mission. The main objective? To fly past Saturn & propel into a cosmic wormhole to another galaxy in search of a new Earth-like planet to exist on. Also aboard is Brand's scientist daughter, Amelia (Anne Hathaway), co-pilot Doyle (Wes Bentley), astrophysicist Romilly (David Gyasi), & a cheeky robot named TARS (voiced by Bill Kirwin).
I liked most of this segment because a) it sets up the dire situation at hand quite beautifully, and b) it displays the loving, playful relationship that Cooper has with his family; particularly daughter, Murph. They are extremely close and, when Cooper is departing for the mission, his tear-filled exclamation of "I'm coming back" does not sooth his angry, confused, inconsolable daughter. But also near the end of this segment - when Michael Caine starts explaiiiiiiining the ins-&-outs of the mission ad nauseum - I started to get a teeny bit lost; looking forward to the actual space sequences so I could see the mission for myself; rather than hearing about it.
The 2nd hour: After passing through the black hole Gargantua, their spaceship visits what's called Miller's Planet, an Earth-like place where mile-high tidal waves put potential human colonization out of the question. The 1st leg of this mission goes terribly wrong and, by staying on this planet too long, they realize that a few extra hours THERE means that some 23 yrs. have already passed back on Earth. Meanwhile, time is running out for everyone back home. Murph (now Jessica Chastain) is a cynical scientist who has never gotten over the idea that her father abandoned the family to search for life elsewhere when he could have been home. Simultaneously, Cooper becomes increasingly distraught that he may never see his kids again; facing stiff opposition as he tries to get the mission to return home.
And the 3rd Hour: Despite some laborious exposition about the space-time continuum & incomprehensible black hole/5th-dimensions, Cooper's desperate space travel heroics take over. Hans Zimmer's operatic music score & the film's sound team give us a sonar blast that had me gripping my armrest. We see ice planets, frozen clouds, a tense docking scene, & all manner of terrifying-yet-gorgeous visuals. But the quest concludes with headscratching quasi-religious scenes which try to explain metaphysics, as well as conveying the bewildering mysteries of love, time, gravity ... even ghosts. Aside from the slightly confusing plot points (which will iron themselves out with repeat viewings), I had 2 tangible issues with this otherwise spectacular movie.
1) a large subplot involving a character named Dr. Mann did not sit well in the story, for me. And 2) I cry easily during movies, people. This movie will make a lot of people cry. The emotion onscreen in the final 30 minutes is amped up high. And yet ... for one reason or another (a particular bedside scene), I wasn't moved to tears. Tears ... can make me forgive a lot of minor problems that I have with a movie. Performance-wise, McConaughey, Hathaway, & Chastain emote convincingly. McConaughey gives, for me, the best performance of his career -- he moved me most of all. Chastain, while excellent, is forced to make magic out of a highly underused/written 3rd Act role. John Lithgow, Matt Damon, & Ellen Burstyn provide support in small roles, though, the effect of their performances vary.
You know, Christopher Nolan is such a visionary filmmaker. I've always admired & been (mostly) thrilled by his work. i.e., The Batman Trilogy, Inception. But despite some wonderful aspects, something didn't quite click this time. The premise (finding planets to live on in other galaxies, solving essential equations involving time/space/gravity in order to see loved ones again) ... is captivating. But the execution of the premise is not as captivating. The pacing goes off. Too much is explained. A shorter, more streamlined movie that still tackled the basic scientific premise, the power of love, & speculation about mankind's future could have provided a more consistently satisfying movie experience. No movie this good (or potentially great) should have been as much of a chore as it is.