Interstellar

You walk out of Interstellar a little dazed, maybe even confused.  The latest film from Christopher Nolan is overflowing with emotion and ideas, and when it's done, you feel kind of overwhelmed.  It's a movie built around big visuals and long, wordy passages of dialogue that come close to crushing the film with its rambling thoughts on science, the universe and quantum physics.  It may not stay with you days after you've seen it, but it sure is a rush to watch.

This is more or less Nolan's tribute to 2001: A Space Odyssey, which just happens to be the first movie the filmmaker saw as a child, and inspired him to make movies.  You can spot some subtle references to Kubrick's classic throughout, along with some not so subtle ones.  What sets this film apart from the earlier film is that this is a much more emotional film.  While they both share a wonder about the universe and discovering what lies within, at its heart, Interstellar is really a personal story between a father and daughter.  In a way, Nolan seems to be combining the cold science of Kubrick's vision, with the crowd-pleasing elements of Spielberg.  This is something Spielberg himself attempted with mixed results in his 2001 film, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.  Nolan's attempt at mixing the styles creates similar at times brilliant, and at other times frustrating results.

There is no denying that Nolan is a masterful director, able to create some stunning visuals.  However, there is also no denying that in order to watch one of his films, you have to wade through some very dense patches of dialogue that only a writer could love.  There are lengthy periods where the characters stop the action to engage in long and complex conversations about quantum physics, wormholes and time relativity.  Don't get me wrong, it's great to see these kind of ideas expressed in a mainstream Hollywood movie, but Nolan doesn't know how to make the dialogue presentable.  We feel like we are suddenly attending a science lecture, and the movie completely stops.  Clearing up some of the dense clutter in the dialogue would have gone a long way to trimming the film's nearly three hour run time.  I was never bored watching the film, but there were times I did find myself ready for the movie to move on to the next scene, and the characters were still just standing around, reciting science jargon.

At the same time, I admire Interstellar greatly, because it is something we seldom see in the movies these days - A Sci-Fi film with a positive look on the future, and a sense of hope.  So many films paint the future as a dark, cold place where people are covered with dirt and mud and hover around dying flames.  Here, even with humanity on the brink of destruction, there is still a sense of hope for a better life.  The movie takes place in the near future, where Earth is slowly being covered with massive dust storms, rendering the air toxic.  Four astronauts, led by former Air Force pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), are tasked with the mission to find a new planet that humanity can inhabit.  He is joined in the mission by a trio of scientists, the main one being a woman named Brand (Anne Hathaway).  They will travel through a wormhole near Saturn, and come out the other end to explore three possible worlds that could be a new home.

This is not the first time such a mission has been attempted.  One mission from 10 years ago resulted in messages from the astronauts about possible worlds.  Now Cooper's team must visit these worlds, and see what the previous team has found.  For Cooper, this is a chance to explore the universe, and provide hope for his two children.  However, it also means that he will be away from them for what could be many years, as an hour on one of these new plants could equal over 20 years on Earth.  Cooper's daughter, Murph (played as a child by Mackenzie Foy and as an adult by Jessica Chastain), fears for her father, and tries to keep hope alive the many years he is away on his mission.  Cooper has a son also, but the screenplay forgets about him for long periods of time, and he doesn't even seem all that broken up about leaving him behind, just his daughter.  This does create an odd disconnect, since this is supposed to be an emotional and heartfelt story, but I digress.

The heart at the center of Interstellar is a little too calculated and mechanical for my liking.  The movie is obviously aiming to tug at our heartstrings, but it tugs a little too hard, and gets manipulative and sappy at certain moments.  This is not so much the fault of the actors (who are all very good, and handle the material as well as anyone could), but again Nolan's lack of ability for writing genuine or honest-sounding dialogue.  He is a master showman, able to create unforgettable images, such as the first time we see the planet Saturn.  But when it comes to the heart of his characters, he is obviously trying a little too hard.  The movie is at its very best when it is trying to create a sense of awe within the audience, which fortunately is most of the time. 

Nolan has given his movie a grand sense of scope, which really does make it stand out from just about everything else out there.  Mostly, this is a wonderful thing, as he treats us to some stunning visuals.  Most of all, there is a sense of wonder and exploration here.  The effects are at the use of a screenplay that truly appreciates and wants to explore them.  But there is one way that the movie's grand intentions go wrong, and that is with the bombastic music score by Hans Zimmer.  There are moments where the score actually drowns out the dialogue, leading us to initially miss out on some crucial information at times.  I can appreciate the huge scope of the project, but there were certain areas where I wish they had dialed down just a little.

Interstellar is a movie that's easy to admire, and can be quite the experience to watch.  It's only when you find yourself in the quiet, not surrounded by Nolan's grand visions and manipulations that the cracks in the film's surface begin to reveal themselves.  This is still a must see for anyone who still believes in the majesty of the movies.  If anything, this feels like Nolan is warming up for even bigger things in the future.

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