Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine lead the cast of this ambitious sci-fi odyssey. J.P.’s has his take on the film, directed by Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight” trilogy).
INTERSTELLAR
Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures Present
In Association with Legendary Pictures
A Syncopy/Linda Obst Productions Production
A Film by Christopher Nolan
Executive Producers Jordan Goldberg, Jake Myers, Kip Thorne, Thomas Tull
Produced by Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, Lynda Obst
Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn and Michael Caine
Studio Synopsis:
Interstellar chronicles the adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
J.P.’s Take:
“Interstellar” is the Brothers Nolan’s – Christopher and Jonathan – ambitious cosmic journey, which is akin to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” It begins with a “talking heads” style documentary of interviews with actual survivors of the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. Those recounts of people who lived through this catastrophe are superimposed upon the world of our main character, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey).
The first act, which takes place in the late 21st century, deals with issues of greed, over population and consumption that has taken a toll on Earth. The apocalyptic storyline is reinforced with nihilistic visuals through out the film. I felt a sense of impending doom, watching Cooper’s family suffering from the effects of scouring dust storms and raging fires that burned away dead crops.
The second act leaps into outer space. In respects to its compositions, there are sparse moments of silence, which are filmed wonderfully even eerily. This is especially apparent during scenes where an experimental star ship called Endurance floats by Saturn. Those moments are effective enough to create a sense of loneliness and vastness, in comparison to how small the human race is. The main story was inspired by the work of Theoretical Physicist Kip Thorne, as the plot and dialogue carried enough scientific jargon to sound plausible, yet you didn’t get lost in it. The actors gave some convincing performances yet they felt slightly robotic. There are some tear jerking moments, although they’re not truly worth committing to memory. Basically the Nolans concocted a movie with sci-fi tendencies, disguised as a drama where the theme is love transcending space-time.
I was impressed with much of the film up to a point, then towards the end things got a bit clunky and odd. I had expected a bit more mystery or something more coherent. Not that this was a tough movie to wrap my head around, it’s just that the two halves didn’t seem to match.
I saw this film with “Sidewalks Entertainment” creator / host Richard R. Lee, and we’ve had the pleasure of seeing it in IMAX. However, due to technical issues with the film reel we saw, we were not able to finish the film in that format. Fortunately, a make up screening shown at Industrial Light & Magic gave us a second chance to rewatch the film and catch up on missed events. Lee thought the first two hours of the film had a sense of “realism” to its storyline (with Cooper’s family, launching into space, and its first part of the journey through a black hole), while the last hour had more of a fantasy element to the film. He felt the last part was a different film altogether, where the filmmakers had to wrap each subplot before the end credits start. In someway, he thought the writers of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” could come up with a better ending (maybe having villainous “Q” to save the day).
Overall, I sum up this film as being somewhat awe-inspiring to watch despite the earsplitting sound track. However, the second act proved lopsided. I invite all viewers to see it for themselves you may have a different perspective.