I was not the only person grumbling on the way out of the theater after seeing this disappointing production. There is a lot of hullabaloo about this movie, the trailers presenting an exciting and potentially rewarding science fiction thriller, an opinion shared by many of the big-time movie critics. Donât get your hopes too high.
The cast features nine well-known actors and actresses. Between them, they have twenty three Oscar nominations, to say nothing of countless Golden Globe awards. It took 267 people to produce the visual effects, which were the highlight of the movie. Unfortunately, all that star and production power results in a long, drawn out (three hours) and sometimes boring film.
The story starts somewhere in the ânear future.â The earth is slowly becoming uninhabitable for reasons never clearly laid out, although some kind of âblightâ seems to be the explanation. Matthew McConaughey stars as Cooper, an Astronaut whose task is to find a hospitable planet for the human race to survive. The sequence of events leading up to the mission takes far too long, and by the time it started, I was ready to leave the theater, but I couldnât as I was asleep.
It must have been the âblast offâ of the space rocket that woke me up, and I thought, âat last, this film finally has some life.â To be fair there are some dramatic and even captivating moments, as we head into the unknown and, while there is a strategic plan in place, even the team of astronauts isnât sure when and where they will end up. This is the point where various (absurd) scientific theories begin to surface as the ship heads for a âblack holeâ where no man has ventured before.
Interstellar
Entertainment Rating: ★★
Rating: PG-13, one or two profanities, no sex or nudity, intense action scenes
Possible Oscar Nominations: Visual Effects
The story progresses through one adventure after another, none of them fully understandable to most viewers, including any Astro-Physicist who happened to be in the audience. After two and a half hours the story begins to head to some resolution, but the ending is not only convoluted but the closing scenes make you wonder âhow in the heck did that come about?â
Another aspect that helped with the periodic confusion was the sound track. I would estimate that ten percent of the dialogue was indiscernible as lines were spoken softly, whispered, or muted by background noise. Add to that Matt Damonâs worst performance ever and the irritating use of organ music in the background and, well, what else can I say?
If the outer space, science fiction genre appeals to you, the best of the best are the two most recent Star Trek movies starring Chris Pine as Captain Kirk. They donât get any better than that.
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