Movies: Interstellar

Score:  **** out of ***** (A-)

Long Story Short:  One of today's hottest directors has turned from exploring the depths of our dreams to the realm of space (and some other things).  Nolan's ambitions are higher than ever, even as he "grounds" most of this huge space adventure in sound science.  With Interstellar, Nolan also brings the personal to the foreground more than ever, centered on a father and daughter.  While not everything clicks perfectly, the film's final act brings it all together beautifully to make all the ups and downs of the (almost 3 hour) journey worth it.


As we reach the middle of November, the bigger and/or more awards-friendly films are coming in more steadily - and snow is starting to fall.  The upcoming calendar of films looks to be full of a variety of interesting films, including several comedies, of which I haven't seen very many yet this year.  Interstellar was probably my most anticipated film of 2014.  Director Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is the best series of superhero films ever made, and both Inception and (especially) The Prestige are creative, superbly made films.  I didn't know (and didn't want to know) much about the plot of his newest film, other than it being about space exploration beyond anything we've seen before.  No matter the reviews, I was going to see it.  Interstellar was directed by Nolan, and stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain.

In the near future, Earth is a grim place, resigned to further decline.  The reason is quite basic:  some form of blight has eradicated wheat and other essential crops, and so the production of food is society's priority.  This has forced Cooper (McConaughey) into farm life following a promising career as an astronaut.  He is a widower, living with his father-in-law and two children, teen Tom and younger daughter Murphy.  His children reflect opposing views of Earth's condition: Tom is a willing farmer, ready to serve alongside his father, but Murphy is a very bright, curious girl who refuses to accept her limitations.  This urge to explore leads Cooper and Murphy to a top secret location.

Cooper learns the full truth of Earth's situation:  human life is no longer sustainable on the planet.  He is given the choice - both a challenge and an opportunity - to take up his old life and help find a new home for humanity.  Even if he succeeds, though, will he ever see his children again?

Interstellar has a very impressive cast.  Matthew McConaughey takes the lead as astronaut-turned-farmer-turned-astronaut Cooper.  He certainly puts his star presence to use here, and is believable as a very competent man, as farmer, pilot and leader.  In the first part of the film, he also shows himself to be a loving father.  Yet, there is a disconnect between the two parts of this character.  Individual elements of Cooper - and McConaughey's acting - are strong, but they don't mesh into a particularly memorable lead character.  Anne Hathaway plays scientist Brand, a member of Cooper's team who goes toe-to-toe with him as the crew faces its challenging decisions.  She does pretty well, but the character is not well-developed despite significant screen time.  Chastain stands out as the adult Murphy, taking the challenging job of shifting Murphy's unrestrained childhood tendencies into a more mature, subtle form.  She is essential in anchoring the last few acts of the film.  Michael Caine appears briefly as an Earth-bound scientist in his usual advisory role, and two robots (although I had thought there was only one when watching it) on the mission to provide a little bit of comic relief.

Interstellar is unmistakably a Nolan film:  ambitious, creative, flawed, divisive, thought-provoking, and 95% fulfilling.  The closest cousin to this film is Inception.  Nolan apparently did do his space homework here, accurately utilizing fascinating phenomena like wormholes and black holes.  With so much to potentially explain, he makes overall good choices of what to include; Cooper goes from life as a farmer to blasting off into space in a matter of moments, but he is careful to explain how time moves differently near black holes, etc.  Despite these fancy new space ideas, the tension in the film - sometimes eating away slowly, sometimes abrupt - is more about the relationships and the fate of mankind.  Less direct, in other words.  In fact, apart from a handful of set pieces (such as a harrowing attempt to dock a shuttle on a rapidly spinning and debris-spewing station), I was not blown away by the visual effects.  The ideas of how space and time itself are challenges to be overcome are powerful enough in themselves.

Interstellar does bring something new to the table for Nolan in the form of family relationships.  This is the other main element of the film - and perhaps the primary one.  Precocious young Murphy is played by a talented actress, and in some ways she steals the show early on - her weathered father just tries to keep up with her.  But then the stakes come into play, and of course it gets more serious.  When watching this at first, I didn't feel too affected by it.  Then as the focus shifts to the mission, we get just glimpses of this (although some powerful ones at that).  It's in the final act that the film brings it full circle and the early moments assume their full power.  Some will, I'm sure, roll their eyes at a particular scene (no spoilers here), but I went with it and was quite moved.  Even if the father-daughter relationship doesn't ever quite fully click, the ideas behind it are poignant.

***

Nolan's films are some of the hardest for me to evaluate, and Interstellar might be the hardest yet.  His films go where literally no one else can or will go in Hollywood.  The ideas, placed within interesting if not fully-realized characters, are some of the most thought-provoking you'll encounter in the theater.  But, especially for Nolan's last three films, there's also a feeling of ...and yet...  At times, key plot explanations are left perilously, loosely addressed; or an interesting character never quite connects with us as much as we wanted; or behind the main whirring motor of thought is a strange emptiness to some of the "real" content.  This is not at all to say that Nolan's films (IMO) are bad - but with my OCD, it can be a little maddening when the films are almost there... but just short.

Really, that's more than enough negativity.  I had no idea what to expect when walking into that theater, other than knowing that Nolan would impress and dazzle me.  And that he did - the film is one big crescendo, starting slowly but ending with not so much a brief Big Bang as an echoing Big Boom.  Nolan is so good with ideas, and the finale wraps up not just the technical details this time (at least as well as usual) but also the personal in a very beautiful way.  Maybe we don't care about the actual characters as much as we should, but I'll remember the overall feeling.  Recommended for all.



"Interstellar film poster."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_(film)#mediaviewer/File:Interstellar_film_poster.jpg