Interstellar Review

Rated PG-13 (Some Intense Perilous Action and Brief Strong Language)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 49 Minutes

Cast-

Matthew McConaughey-Joseph Cooper

Anne Hathaway-Amelia Brand

Jessica Chastain-Murphy Cooper

Michael Caine-Professor John Brand

David Gyasi-Romilly

Wes Bentley-Doyle

Bill Irwin (voice)-TARS

Josh Stewart (voice)-CASE

John Lithgow-Donald

Mackenzie Foy-Young Murphy Cooper

Ellen Burstyn-Old Murphy Cooper

Timothée Chalamet-Young Tom Cooper

Casey Affleck-Tom Cooper

Leah Cairns-Lois Cooper

Topher Grace-Getty

Collette Wolfe-Ms. Kelly

David Oyelowo-School Principal

William Devane-NASA Board Member

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Director Christopher Nolan reaches for the stars and beyond in his latest film, "Interstellar."

Note: Screened on Monday, October 3, 2014 at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 (Red Carpet Premiere).

What is out there? What does the future hold? How will it reshape us? And what lies not just on the horizon but beyond it, in the places we cannot see and have yet to even fathom? Director Christopher Nolan is never one to shy away from a challenge. Ever since 2008's "The Dark Knight" grossed a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, the release of a new Nolan film has become a major cinematic event unto itself. The British auteur has built quite an impressive body of work over the past sixteen years, from sophisticated, mind-bending contortions ("Following," "Memento," and "Inception"), intricate stories exploring the nature of obsession—whether it'd be in the form of dueling magicians ("The Prestige") or a guilt-ridden detective ("Insomnia")—to finally redefining the superhero genre into a serious art form ("The Dark Knight" trilogy). For his ninth feature, Nolan is taking audiences into uncharted territory in the farthest reaches of outer space. "Interstellar" is by far the director's biggest, boldest, and most sentimental work to date. Hell, calling it 'ambitious' doesn't even begin to do it justice! But is it his best film? The answer is sadly no. However, I do want to make one thing absolutely clear: "Interstellar" is not terrible—far from it, in fact. It simply comes up short when compared to the high bar that Nolan has set for himself. Despite its narrative flaws, "Interstellar" remains a visually breathtaking, out-of-this-world experience, an audacious piece of blockbuster filmmaking that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

The Earth is dying in the not-too-distant future. Hazardous dust storms are now a daily occurrence. A devastating blight has also destroyed crops like wheat and okra, leaving corn as the only viable food source that can still be grown. Faced with an ever-dwindling food supply, humanity has turned away from innovation and discovery in order to focus on basic survival. Spurred by his inquisitive daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy), former NASA test pilot-turned-corn farmer Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) investigates a series of gravitational anomalies in the ramshackle home that he also shares with his teenage son Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and father-in-law Donald (John Lithgow). Centered in his daughter's room, these anomalies reveal a set of coordinates during a severe dust storm. Cooper follows them to a hidden facility out in the desert, where he encounters the tattered remnants of NASA led by his old mentor Professor John Brand (Michael Caine) and his daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway). They explain that since the Earth cannot be saved, the only solution is to travel beyond their solar system and into outer space. Fortunately, a wormhole has been discovered near Saturn, presumably placed there by beings of higher intelligence that want to lend humanity a helping hand. Ten years ago, several astronauts went through the wormhole, with the data they sent back indicating three worlds that are potentially habitable. Brand wants Cooper to lead a new mission that will determine humanity's new home. Although he is reluctant to leave his family behind, Cooper knows that his children's generation will be the Earth's last if he doesn't go and agrees. His decision leaves Murphy devastated and resentful. As the years fly by and conditions worsen, she (Jessica Chastain) begins to lose faith that her father will ever return.

"Interstellar" is set in a dying Earth ravaged by dust storms and an ever-dwindling food supply.

"Interstellar" left me utterly speechless. This is an epic science fiction film filled with grand themes and even grander visuals but it's also a very old-fashioned picture, one that wears its heart on its sleeve and evokes an unabashed sentimentalism that is almost Spielberg-esque, for lack of a better term. Ironically, Steven Spielberg was previously attached to direct when the project was announced by Paramount back in 2006. Christopher Nolan's younger brother Jonathon was hired to write the screenplay a year later but Spielberg eventually dropped out, paving the way for Christopher to take over the reins as director in 2013 and bringing Warner Brothers with him as a co-financier and co-distributor. He rewrote his brother's script, incorporating an original idea of his own within the existing sci-fi narrative based around wormholes. The end result is somewhat messy and bloated—the film's running time is a butt-numbing two hours and forty-nine minutes—yet "Interstellar" is never less than awe-inspiring. It's the type of big-budget, risk-taking blockbuster that has become all too rare in today's franchise-driven Hollywood.

Opening somewhere in the American farm belt, Nolan's vision of the future in "Interstellar" feels like something out of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The dust-covered cars and farmhouses evoke the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. However, the odd personal computer and long-lost surveillance drone remind viewers that the people in this film are at a technological advantage compared to the Okies in Steinbeck's 1939 novel. The problem is that any technology that is still usable is geared toward one purpose: to grow food. When Cooper sees the aforementioned surveillance drone while driving his kids to school, he chases after it, smashing through a cornfield despite having a flat tire. 'Solar cells could power an entire farm,' he remarks. Due to the severe dust storms and food shortage, the world has forsaken innovation and discovery in favor of basic survival. After all, what's the point of going to outer space when you're struggling to put food on the table? One character even says at one point, 'The world doesn't need any more engineers. We didn't run out of planes and television sets. We ran out of food.' Given the many budget cuts that NASA has faced in recent years, the scenario in Nolan's film isn't too far removed from reality despite its apocalyptic undertones but the director takes it one step further. When Cooper attends a parent-teacher conference, it's revealed that things have gotten so bad that textbooks have now written off the Apollo missions as fake and were designed to bankrupt the Soviet Union! A series of admittedly hokey events (we'll get back to them later) leads to Cooper and Murphy stumbling upon a hidden facility out in the middle of the desert. This facility is revealed to be the home of what remains of NASA, who is desperately searching the universe for a habitable world that can sustain the human race. However, this is only Plan A. Plan B involves using thousands of fertilized human embryos to ensure humanity's survival once the Earth is dead. Michael Caine's Professor Brand wants Cooper to make Plan A happen and even though the former test pilot can't bear the thought of leaving his children behind, he wants to ensure that there is an actual future for them. Cooper agrees to lead the mission. His decision destroys Murphy because it means that she might not see her father again. 

From a visual and audio standpoint, "Interstellar" is unforgettable and unmatched. 

"Interstellar" prides itself on scientific accuracy (renowned theoretical physicist Kip Thorne served as a consultant and even has an executive producer credit) but for all its talk about quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity, Nolan's film basically boils down to the 'Power of Love.' Anne Hathaway's Amelia even remarks at one point that 'love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.' It's the kind of line that feels profound and cheesy all at the same time but the theme works because it's anchored by a very sincere and often heartbreaking performance from Matthew McConaughey. Relegated to the world of clichéd rom-coms for almost a decade, McConaughey has completely reinvented himself over the past three years. Hell, the mere suggestion that he would win an Academy Award four years ago would've prompted massive laughter from me! But this is a different McConaughey now and even as "Interstellar" threatens to go off the rails in the third act, his performance keeps the film grounded and gives it the beating heart that some critics have complained that was missing in Nolan's previous work. There's a scene where Cooper returns from one of the potentially habitable planets and discovers that twenty-three years have passed due to time dilation resulting from being in close proximity to a massive black hole. He views a series of video messages and the shock of seeing his children as adults hits him hard. Cooper starts weeping and I have to admit, I felt emotional as well. I may not be a parent yet but I understand the sacrifices they make. If there's one thing that Nolan successfully captures, it's the unbreakable bond between parent and child. The rest of the cast—which includes Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, and a big-name cameo—deliver fine performances as well. However, they're shackled by the film's lumbering narrative, pigeon-holing their characters into mouthpieces of exposition that are either used to advance the plot or themes. Two of the more memorable characters aren't even human; they're actually robots. Voiced by Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart, the quadrilateral-shaped TARS and CASE provide much of the film's humor, with both recalling HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 magnum-opus "2001: A Space Odyssey.".

'Wow' is a frequent word you'll be uttering while watching "Interstellar." The film was unfortunately not shown in 70mm IMAX at the advance screening I attended but even so, the images of space are some of the most beautiful I've seen since…well, Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey"! Working with Swiss cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, Nolan really drives home the vastness of outer space and humanity's insignificance in the face of it all. The slowly-spinning mother ship Endurance is often relegated to a tiny corner of the screen or lost in the radiating swirl of a black hole. Speaking of black holes, the one depicted in the film—dubbed 'Gargantua' by the characters—is not only scientifically accurate but also a dazzling visual highlight that looms ominously over every scene in the second act. Although wormholes (or Einstein–Rosen bridges) have long been a staple of the sci-fi genre, no film has ever attempted to capture the tense, almost hypnotic experience of going through one. Nolan has, and as we watch space-time bend and warp, it really does feel like we're literally going down the rabbit hole despite the fact that the existence of wormholes remains theoretical. Of course, "Interstellar" isn't just composed of tiny spacecraft languorously drifting through the cosmos. There are several heart-pounding set-pieces, from a perilous escape from a watery planet with tsunamis that can block out the sun to a terrifying docking sequence that left me on the edge of my seat. Hans Zimmer's rousing score is also absolutely fantastic. From a visual and audio standpoint, Nolan's latest is unforgettable and unmatched.

The ensemble cast deliver fine performances, even if some of them only serve as mouthpieces for exposition.

But "Interstellar" is not Nolan's best film. It's certainly ambitious, a quality that is noticeably lacking in big-budget blockbusters today. However, there's a feeling of 'hokiness' that you're never quite able to shake off. Take the first act for instance. The events that lead to Cooper and Murphy discovering the remnants of NASA are initially attributed to a 'ghost,' so there's already a metaphysical element at play here. The revelation of whom or what the 'ghost' is and why it was doing what it was doing is shown in the third act. It's here that Nolan somewhat exceeds his grasp as he tries to turn a chaotic, unpredictable force such as love into something that can be quantified, something that can hold galaxies together like gravity. It threatens to derail the film and as mentioned previously, only McConaughey's sincere performance holds it all together. Still, I have to admire Nolan for thinking outside the box and going 'out there,' critical or audience reception be damned. It's better to take a risk and not succeed then take no risk at all. I suppose that speaks for the film's overall message since it's essentially about taking a huge leap of faith.

Following a two-day limited engagement, "Interstellar" opens in wide release on November 7, 2014. Although reception has been largely positive with 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, this is Nolan's worst-reviewed film by far. Critics noted that it 'represents more of the thrilling, thought-provoking, and visually resplendent filmmaking moviegoers have come to expect from writer-director Christopher Nolan, even if its intellectual reach somewhat exceeds its grasp.' This type of polarizing reaction doesn't come as a surprise to me and I suppose it doesn't come as a surprise to Nolan either. His work inspires endless debate and whether you thought the film was good or bad, people will be talking about "Interstellar" for quite a while. There's too much exposition, its mixture of hard science and metaphysical philosophy doesn't entirely gel together, and it's definitely too long at almost three hours but "Interstellar" is one of the most unforgettable cinematic experiences I've ever had. It's a passionate ode to human discovery and that's something I greatly admire. What is out there? Hope, love, and endless possibilities.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5

"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space."