Interstellar:
Cooper, a former NASA pilot turned farmer and single father, is struggling to support his family. On near-future Earth, crops are dying, dust storms are commonplace everywhere, and people have given up the idea of space travel and other ventures in favor of just being content with their miserable lives on this planet. Cooper and his young daughter Murph stumble upon a secret government facility after receiving mysterious coordinates, and they are enlisted by Cooper's former employer Professor Brand to help save the world. Cooper must leave his family behind to take a possibly futile journey to another galaxy through a wormhole to try and find habitable planets for humankind to thrive on once Earth dies.
I feel Nolan has been more and more ambitious with each film he makes. His debut Following was one of the most cleverly crafted "no budget" films of the past 30 years; Memento was well-written and had a unique narrative structure that helped set it apart from other thrillers; Insomnia, while cliche, was able to make Robin Williams into a creepy villain as well as disorient the viewer; The Prestige took an interesting look at the thriller genre as well as science-fiction and fantasy elements; The Dark Knight Trilogy took a pulpy comic book premise and turned it into a sleek, modern action-thriller; Inception blended the heist film with science fiction and multiple dream sequences to, again, set it apart from others. Now Interstellar attempts to tackle a story of epic scale in the most scientifically accurate way possible, save for maybe some of the set and prop designs. It even seems to be trying to be the 21st Century's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Is it that great? No. Is it great otherwise? Yes.
Matthew McConaughey gives a captivating performance as Cooper. He's extremely likable and is sort of an outsider in his farming community, and he's given a near impossible task to save the galaxy with only a small crew to help, so you really root for him all the way. He is also able to sell the emotional scenes perfectly, as he did previously in Dallas Buyer's Club and True Detective. I wouldn't be surprised if he got an Oscar nomination for this film. Anne Hathaway served her purpose in the film but I never really felt like she really stood out, but she gave a good performance and I don't think too many people could have done it too much better. David Gyasi (Cloud Atlas, The Dark Knight Rises) and Wes Bentley (American Beauty, The Hunger Games, American Horror Story: Freak Show) have nice supporting roles and I think both have them did really well, respectively, even though Bentley doesn't get nearly as much screen time. Bill Irwin (Rachel Getting Married, Across the Universe) and Josh Stewart (Dirt, Criminal Minds, The Collector, The Dark Knight Rises) voice the androids TARS and CASE, respectively, both of whom provide comic relief (but not in an annoying way) and who have multiple uses and abilities that make their black box-like appearance sort of deceiving. Jessica Chastain, Ellen Burstyn, Topher Grace, and Casey Affleck have roles I don't want to give away as they may be minor spoilers, but what I can say is that Chastain does an excellent job in her role, and Affleck is also consistently good. Michael Caine and John Lithgow do really well in their supporting roles and I enjoyed seeing these two play off McConaughey. David Oyelowo has a cameo early on as a school principal, and William Devane appears as a government official. I don't really know how to feel about Mackenzie Foy and Timothée Chalamet, the child actors in the film. They were the only two performers who I felt were a little bit inconsistent. Chalamet doesn't have too many lines so it's fine, but Foy is an integral role in the film, and sometimes she was able to sell me on her and McConaughey as a father-daughter team, but sometimes she came off a little forced and that took me out of the movie. There is one last actor who appears as a surprise in the final act, but I won't give away who it is. All I can say is you'll know exactly who I'm talking about when you see the movie.
The whole look of the film is really cool, and feels very reminiscent of films like 2001, Star Wars, and Prometheus, to an extent. The thrilling sequences (I can't really call them action sequences) were executed very well. The score by Hans Zimmer, while used a little repetitively, was intense and rousing as always, and my favorite track was the intense organ music played during the climax. The cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema is lush and beautiful; very polished.
The few problems I had with the film, aside from the child actors, mostly had to do with the run-time being egregiously overlong; I felt it was a little excessive and self-indulgent. While I do enjoy a good, long movie, this one had me a little exhausted at some points, much like the third act of The Dark Knight, which, along with Interstellar, felt like it had about five different climactic moments back-to-back. It also, like The Dark Knight Rises, took a bit too long to get the story going.
My other major issue stemmed from some of the writing, mostly the idea of the "love transcending all dimensions" bullshit. I mean, I'd expect that from a Spielberg or a Disney, but not Nolan, with his dark, complicated stories and psychologically interesting characters. Not him.
But, on the plus side, I think it took some stuff from classic science-fiction cinema and put a new spin on it, and I'm glad it didn't disappoint as much as Prometheus did (and keep in mind, I liked that movie). I also enjoyed the incorporation of time and relativity as a major plot point, as it helped create more drama and tension, and put a clock on their mission, which makes the audience feel that every second counts.
Interstellar may not have surpassed The Dark Knight Trilogy or Memento in terms of quality, but it definitely did not disappoint. It has a fantastic lead character, incredible visuals, an absorbing story (even if it can get a bit sappy at times), and a solid cast. I can't wait to see what Nolan does next. 4/5 stars.
(Image: Wikipedia)
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