Don't tell me the plot is utter nonsense. Don't tell me the movie itself is completely ludicrous and stretches all realms of believability to the breaking point. That would ruin the spell that
The Astronaut Farmer puts its audience under. The movie is utterly ridiculous, and yet it works, because the actors up there on the screen make us believe. That's a hard thing to accomplish, especially with your usually jaded audience. This is one of those movies where you start rolling your eyes, but sooner or later, you actually find yourself wrapped up in the story. The thought that the whole thing is nonsense never leaves your mind, but you just don't care anymore.
Hard working ranch owner Charlie Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) has had more than his share of setbacks in his life, but has never lost sight of his dream to go into outer space. He got close to his dream once back when he was in the military, but he was discharged and never got to go. Charlie eventually decided that if the government wasn't going to send him into space, he'd just have to send himself. For the past couple years, he has been building an actual working rocket in the barn. You would think that building a space shuttle would most certainly cause a rift in Charlie's family life, but his loving wife Audrey (Virginia Madsen) supports him every step of the way, as do his three sweet children (Max Thieriot, Jasper Polish and Logan Polish). Naturally, most of the town thinks the guy's nuts, and when Charlie's story becomes national news, the world stars to add their own two cents. With the rocket set to launch any day, more setbacks pop up in the form of government officials who start trying to bully Charlie into aborting the launch, and the local bank that is threatening to foreclose on their house because of the massive amount of debt that he has built in pursuing his dream.
Obviously, one needs to keep an open mind while watching
The Astronaut Farmer. You have to be willing to believe that not only would a man attempt something like this, but he could apparently do it in a very short time. (At one point of the film, Charlie and his family seem to build an actual working space shuttle in just a couple weeks.) Director Michael Polish, who co-wrote the film with his twin brother, Mark Polish, were obviously inspired by the simpler films and stories of yesterday where all a man needed was a dream and people who supported that dream in order to succeed. The movie has an almost Frank Capra tone, and it's present almost from the very beginning. The story looks to be set in the real world, but in a kinder, gentler version of it where everyone seems a heck of a lot happier. Even the government agents (the closest thing this movie has to an antagonist) are not really all that bad when you get right down to it, and actually seem to be quite impressed with Farmer's efforts behind his back. The movie has such a sweet and innocent look on things that you're almost glad that the film is lost in its own fantasy, as the slightest bit of reality would send everything crashing and burning.
The Astronaut Farmer is total escapism in every sense of the word. At first, I found it's endlessly optimistic look at things cheesy and hopelessly outdated. Then I slowly started to realize that the optimism was the whole point. That a movie as innocent as this can get made by a major studio is quite an achievement. That it can also work is another achievement all together.
A big part of what makes it work is that for all of its loopy plotting and white-washed view of the world, the movie never fails to let us relate on a basic level with the characters. Who hasn't had a dream that seemed crazy? Who hasn't thought about actually doing it, not caring what the naysayers tell you? My guess is that when you are faced with one of these situations, you take the advice of the naysayers and don't go after it. I know I have many of times. This is a movie about dreamers, and the way it talks about dreams is honest and truthful. When the character of Charlie Farmer stands before the stern and grumpy government officials, and pleads his case to continue with his dream, it is a wonderful moment because the character is not just talking about his dream but everyone's. He talks about how when we are children, we are told we can be whatever we want to be. When we get older, we're told to lower our standards and accept reality. There's an old saying about how if everyone followed their dreams they had as children, there would be a whole lot more firemen, doctors, and astronauts in the world. This is a movie that takes that idea and literally runs with it. The movie is also wise to sometimes show that the pursuit of a dream can lead to problems. Even though Charlie's wife stands behind him, she finds herself questioning if her husband is destroying everything they have for the sake of single-minded goal when she learns that the bank is threatening to foreclose. The characters have their moments of weakness, but they never truly sway from their goal. This is a movie that shows not only how to rise above those problems, but to make yourself believe that you can.
Having recently been typecast as antiheros in films such as
School For Scoundrels, The Ice Harvest and
Bad Santa, it's almost refreshing to see Billy Bob Thornton playing such a likeable character this time around. That's not to say he doesn't get to show a little bit of a bad side, as he does throw a brick through the window of the bank when he receives their threatening letter. But, he's got this charm that he displays throughout the film that it's easy to see why the entire town seems to like him even if some of them think he's more than a little crazy. He plays the role of Charlie Farmer mainly straight, which helps us believe that the guy is serious in his dream and his goals. As his loving wife, Virginia Madsen is good, even if she could probably play this kind of role in her sleep as it doesn't really give her anything to do but stick up for her husband and look at him with love. There are a couple fun supporting performances, such as Bruce Dern as Madsen's father, Tim Blake Nelson as Charlie's friend and lawyer, and J.K. Simmons (best known for playing Peter Parker's cigar-chomping boss in the
Spider-Man films) as the head of the naysayers trying to sway Charlie from his dream of launching. The entire cast is able to keep up with the tone of never ending good cheer that the movie itself releases in each scene, so they never seem out of place.
The Astronaut Farmer is a movie that fought an uphill battle with me the entire time I was watching it. I started out scoffing at it and it's hopelessly cheerful tone, but then I started to lower my guard and get wrapped up in the silliness of it all. There's a method to the madness here. The filmmakers know that this is not a movie you're supposed to take seriously. You're just supposed to surrender to the silliness and let the movie take you where it takes you. That's something a lot of movies ask me to do, and something that few are able to accomplish. By the time Charlie was actually blasting off into orbit, I found myself smiling. And by the time I was heading home, I was thinking back on all the things I used to dream about when I was younger. The movie had done it's job, so I'm giving it a recommendation. It may not work for everyone, since you definitely have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. All I know is when it was over, the movie had won the battle and I had surrendered to it.
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Don't tell me the plot is utter nonsense. Don't tell me the movie itself is completely ludicrous and stretches all realms of believability to the breaking point. That would ruin the spell that The Astronaut Farmer puts its audience under. The movie is utterly ridiculous, and yet it works, because the actors up there on the screen make us believe. That's a hard thing to accomplish, especially with your usually jaded audience. This is one of those movies where you start rolling your eyes, but sooner or later, you actually find yourself wrapped up in the story. The thought that the whole thing is nonsense never leaves your mind, but you just don't care anymore.
Hard working ranch owner Charlie Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) has had more than his share of setbacks in his life, but has never lost sight of his dream to go into outer space. He got close to his dream once back when he was in the military, but he was discharged and never got to go. Charlie eventually decided that if the government wasn't going to send him into space, he'd just have to send himself. For the past couple years, he has been building an actual working rocket in the barn. You would think that building a space shuttle would most certainly cause a rift in Charlie's family life, but his loving wife Audrey (Virginia Madsen) supports him every step of the way, as do his three sweet children (Max Thieriot, Jasper Polish and Logan Polish). Naturally, most of the town thinks the guy's nuts, and when Charlie's story becomes national news, the world stars to add their own two cents. With the rocket set to launch any day, more setbacks pop up in the form of government officials who start trying to bully Charlie into aborting the launch, and the local bank that is threatening to foreclose on their house because of the massive amount of debt that he has built in pursuing his dream.
Obviously, one needs to keep an open mind while watching The Astronaut Farmer. You have to be willing to believe that not only would a man attempt something like this, but he could apparently do it in a very short time. (At one point of the film, Charlie and his family seem to build an actual working space shuttle in just a couple weeks.) Director Michael Polish, who co-wrote the film with his twin brother, Mark Polish, were obviously inspired by the simpler films and stories of yesterday where all a man needed was a dream and people who supported that dream in order to succeed. The movie has an almost Frank Capra tone, and it's present almost from the very beginning. The story looks to be set in the real world, but in a kinder, gentler version of it where everyone seems a heck of a lot happier. Even the government agents (the closest thing this movie has to an antagonist) are not really all that bad when you get right down to it, and actually seem to be quite impressed with Farmer's efforts behind his back. The movie has such a sweet and innocent look on things that you're almost glad that the film is lost in its own fantasy, as the slightest bit of reality would send everything crashing and burning. The Astronaut Farmer is total escapism in every sense of the word. At first, I found it's endlessly optimistic look at things cheesy and hopelessly outdated. Then I slowly started to realize that the optimism was the whole point. That a movie as innocent as this can get made by a major studio is quite an achievement. That it can also work is another achievement all together.
A big part of what makes it work is that for all of its loopy plotting and white-washed view of the world, the movie never fails to let us relate on a basic level with the characters. Who hasn't had a dream that seemed crazy? Who hasn't thought about actually doing it, not caring what the naysayers tell you? My guess is that when you are faced with one of these situations, you take the advice of the naysayers and don't go after it. I know I have many of times. This is a movie about dreamers, and the way it talks about dreams is honest and truthful. When the character of Charlie Farmer stands before the stern and grumpy government officials, and pleads his case to continue with his dream, it is a wonderful moment because the character is not just talking about his dream but everyone's. He talks about how when we are children, we are told we can be whatever we want to be. When we get older, we're told to lower our standards and accept reality. There's an old saying about how if everyone followed their dreams they had as children, there would be a whole lot more firemen, doctors, and astronauts in the world. This is a movie that takes that idea and literally runs with it. The movie is also wise to sometimes show that the pursuit of a dream can lead to problems. Even though Charlie's wife stands behind him, she finds herself questioning if her husband is destroying everything they have for the sake of single-minded goal when she learns that the bank is threatening to foreclose. The characters have their moments of weakness, but they never truly sway from their goal. This is a movie that shows not only how to rise above those problems, but to make yourself believe that you can.
Having recently been typecast as antiheros in films such as School For Scoundrels, The Ice Harvest and Bad Santa, it's almost refreshing to see Billy Bob Thornton playing such a likeable character this time around. That's not to say he doesn't get to show a little bit of a bad side, as he does throw a brick through the window of the bank when he receives their threatening letter. But, he's got this charm that he displays throughout the film that it's easy to see why the entire town seems to like him even if some of them think he's more than a little crazy. He plays the role of Charlie Farmer mainly straight, which helps us believe that the guy is serious in his dream and his goals. As his loving wife, Virginia Madsen is good, even if she could probably play this kind of role in her sleep as it doesn't really give her anything to do but stick up for her husband and look at him with love. There are a couple fun supporting performances, such as Bruce Dern as Madsen's father, Tim Blake Nelson as Charlie's friend and lawyer, and J.K. Simmons (best known for playing Peter Parker's cigar-chomping boss in the Spider-Man films) as the head of the naysayers trying to sway Charlie from his dream of launching. The entire cast is able to keep up with the tone of never ending good cheer that the movie itself releases in each scene, so they never seem out of place.
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