Film Review : Interstellar by Christopher Nolan ( 2014 )

"We were never meant to stay"
 

Film Review : Interstellar by  Christopher Nolan  ( 2014 ) 

We have high expectations of Christopher Nolan. By and large, he delivers yet again in Interstellar.

It is perhaps 30 years into the future. The Earth is dying. We gather that crop failures have drastically reduced the population. There is peace on Earth at least, but humankind is struggling as crop after crop seems to die permanently due to blight. Declining biodiversity and climate change have taken their toll. Our days are numbered.

Matthew MaConaughey plays an ex-astronaut turned farmer, struggling to adapt to a world that appears to have given up on space exploration and is instead pre-occupied with putting food on the table. As his father-in-law tells him : " You're not meant for this world, Coop". Prophetic words.

Life seems to be about coping with corn farming in Nebraska, until one day that is, when a strange anomaly appears in his daughters bedroom. Murphy, his girl, asserts her room is haunted by a ghost, but Cooper recognises a gravitational phenomenon. Ironically, it turns out that Murphy is more right than she knows.

Through a strange turn of events Cooper once again finds himself flying for NASA. Their mission : to use a discovered wormhole to find a viable planet in another solar system.

I'm not going to give too much away ; it's difficult to review such a film without spoiling it. But at least I can say Interstellar is a visual spectacular. Alien landscapes, space phenomena, craft and various gadgets that will delight sci-fi fans. The soundtrack is suitably epic ; but then most scores by Hans Zimmer are. Okay, occasionally it sounds like he passed out on the organ, but for the most part the soundtrack matches the grandeur of the vision. The robots TARS and CASE are a particular treat, playing surrogate Man's Best Friend. With their sense of humour, loyalty and capabilities they give the actors a run for their money.

Not to say Anne Hathaway and MaConaughey do a bad job either as the lead astronauts. Both actors are as reliable as ever, and the supporting cast are solid. Back on Earth, Casey Affleck, Michael Caine, John Lithgow and Jessica Chastain as a grown-up Murph all do a good job. It's great to see Lithgow continuing to grow into a great actor. He's come a long way since Bigfoot and the Hendersons. Murph's character is irritating at times perhaps, unable to understand why her father left her in order to try and save the rest of Earth. Chastain plays her as perpetually crestfallen, and maybe doesn't display the greatest range as an actress. You want to ask her : "Hey are you playing depressed scientist, or glum-faced analyst from Zero Dark Thirty ?". To be fair, maybe there's not a lot to be done with the role. You can't tell her " Cheer up ! It's not the end of the world ! Oh, wait..."

 

Most of the plot is actually based on real theoretical science, as top physicist Kip Thorne was a close advisor. There is plenty of intellectual meat here for cerebral sci-fi fans. Whilst the effects of gravity on slowing down time are believable, some of the later events that tie up the plot are less so. But hey, science will only take you so far in a movie, and at some point the fiction part has to take over.

Regardless of whether you  find the plot resolution satisfactory, Interstellar is an epic ride and one that is well piloted by Matthew MaConaughey. Boy, I am glad this guy gave up romantic comedies. Anne Hathaway too, for that matter !

Forget Gravity with Sandra Bullock. Aim higher, reach for the stars.

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures