Movie review: Lost in space with ‘Interstellar’

The minds behind “Memento”, “Inception”, and the “Dark Knight” trilogy have taken on what looks to be a blockbuster stab at the kind of realistic space drama that Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” pioneered. As the latest entry in a genre recently resuscitated to kicking, screaming life by Cuaron’s brilliant “Gravity”, hopes were understandably high when the first trailer for “Interstellar” was released.

As “Interstellar” opens, Earth is in peril. Decades of blight have decimated the world’s crops, wreaking havoc on the world’s food supply, as well as the ecological balances that human beings need to survive on this planet. Eking out a modest living as a farmer is single father Cooper (Matthew McConaughey). A former engineer and test pilot, Cooper is the kind of homespun flyboy that NASA used to churn out at the height of the space program. When Cooper’s daughter, Murph (Mackenzie Foy, “Twilight”), discovers a code that leads her and her father to an old NORAD facility, it sets off a chain of events that will span the width of the known universe.

As Cooper, McConaughey is perfectly cast as the most experienced astronaut on the expedition, a man forced to balance his perceived obligation to the human race with a desire to return to Earth and the family he left behind. Because of the time-dilating effects of faster-than-light travel, the hours that pass for Cooper are years to the people on earth, including Murph, who grows up into a fine scientist (and Jessica Chastain).

Accompanying Cooper on his journey into the unknown is a team of specialists that includes Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway), a no-nonsense scientist whose dedication to the mission may not be entirely professional in nature.

From a production design and technical standpoint, there is little to complain about, as the shots depicting space and the explorers’ assorted vessels are top-notch without being pretentious. This is a fully-realized universe, complete with sassy robot sidekicks (who are infinitely more versatile – and likeable – than their initial appearances would have suggested). Truly, from the dust storms ravaging earth to the outer reaches of our solar system, there is very little onscreen that doesn’t convince us that our heroes are well and truly off to explore strange new worlds.

Sadly, where Nolan and his collaborators would appear to have bitten off more than they could chew is their attempt to tell the story of the ultimate trip. But then, who could blame them for trying? The set-up of a search for a new home is relentlessly intriguing and, truth be told, the scenes depicting that mission are among the most jaw-droppingly impressive you will see in a theater this year.

However, while proper reverence is paid to the narrative set-up, more attention seems to have been lavished on the film’s depiction of physics (real or otherwise); there is very little by way of actual payoff than to any sense of telling a story with a coherent conclusion.

The director and, therefore, by extension, the film’s, biggest sin is in how clever it thinks it is. As someone who has enjoyed Nolan’s output over the years, to me the incongruous manner in which the final act is presented seems downright amateurish compared to the narrative gymnastics he’s accomplished in the past. Hell, the temporal hopscotch he plays with towards the end are no more impressive than the average episode of “Doctor Who”.

Especially grating are the pedantic monologues everyone seems to get on the nature of humanity (the speech on the nature of love drew groans in the press screening this writer attended), to say nothing of the frequent references to Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night” (recited THREE times; presented for us to read, once).

While one can only hope this sort of overindulgent storytelling isn’t the start of a trend for the Nolan brothers, at the end of the day, “Interstellar” is nowhere near as deep or as interesting as the space its characters set out to explore.

So much for star power. — BM, GMA News

"Interstellar" will open in theaters on Nov. 6.