If films were judged purely on ambition, “Interstellar” would be the best movie of the year. It’s filmmaking on a grand scale, and not just visually; in an age in which empty spectacle has replaced good storytelling, it dares to be about something.
But ambition is not the same as quality; you can aim for the moon and fall short. The makers of “Interstellar” set off for a destination far beyond the moon. Although they made it, the ride gets bumpy in places.
The story: In the future, a blight begins killing crops and turning Earth into a dusty expanse. Struggling to raise a son and a daughter in these conditions is Matthew McConaughey’s Cooper, a former astronaut turned farmer who’s growing acres and acres of corn – the only crop the blight hasn’t killed.
His daughter, Murph, believes there’s a ghost in her room pushing books off a shelf in an attempt to communicate with her. Following a fierce dust storm, the scientifically-minded Cooper looks at how the dirt settled in his daughter’s room, and comes to believe a gravitational anomaly moved the books. His curiosity is piqued, though, when he realizes the gaps in the bookshelf represent location coordinates.
There, he and Murph discover the last remnant of NASA, headed by Prof. Brand. Brand tells Cooper mankind will die unless it leaves Earth, and reveals the existence of a wormhole near Saturn that offers instant transport to a distant galaxy, where a previous mission discovered three potentially habitable planets. Brand wants Cooper to pilot an experimental spacecraft through the wormhole to survey the planets. If they find one on which mankind can survive, humanity will leave Earth via the NASA facility, which doubles as a giant spacecraft.
Faster than you can say, “May the Force be with you,” Cooper is saying goodbye to his kids and suiting up for the long voyage.
Inspired by “2001: A Space Odyssey,” writer Jonathan Nolan and his brother, director Chris Nolan, wanted the science of “Interstellar” to be grounded in actual theory. Their film is no “Star Wars”; spaceships don’t zip through the cosmos with a whoosh, or jump into hyperspace to escape Imperial cruisers. Rather, the trip to Saturn takes two years, as it would in real life, and Cooper ages more slowly than his daughter on Earth due to the effect gravity has on time. On one planet, one hour translates to seven years back home. Cooper’s desire to be reunited with his daughter before she dies of old age adds dramatic weight to the story.
So, on one hand, there’s the question of where mankind will go when his time on Earth is done. On the other hand, there’s the theme of love, expressed in a father’s deep affection for his daughter and the bond they share. These things, combined with mind-bending science involving time, space, and gravity, take “Interstellar” to a trippy final act.
Most of “Interstellar” works. McConaughey’s performance is the stuff of Academy Awards. Visually, the film is stunning, with highlights ranging from a quiet shot of McConaughey’s ship drifting close to Saturn to a nose dive into a black hole that reminded me of the final moments of “2001.” And the story is brilliant and inventive.
But there are those pesky bumps. Surprisingly, the second and third acts contain some clunky direction. Scenes on an ice planet and another sequence on Earth involving a burning crop are handled so clumsily, I want to believe Christopher handed them off to a second unit so he could concentrate on other parts of the film.
Also, the dialogue tends to be over-explanatory. In one scene, McConaughey and Anne Hathaway have a philosophical discussion so overwritten, the actors seem to struggle to get all of the words out. That sequence pales in comparison to the climax of the film, though, in which McConaughey explains everything that’s going on around him.
Despite these flaws, “Interstellar” is a great film. It falls short of being a masterpiece, but in a day when Transformers and Mutant Ninja Turtles rule the box office, its realistic approach to science, the adult nature of its themes and emotions, and its innovative storytelling make it a welcome presence in multiplexes across the country.
See it, and if possible, see it
in IMAX.
Three-and-a-half stars out of four. Rated PG-13 for intense, perilous action and brief strong language. David Laprad is the assistant editor of the Hamilton County Herald and an award-winning columnist and photographer. He hates the term “flawed masterpiece,” and worked hard to avoid using it in this review. Contact him at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com.