Interstellar

In the future, food shortages have turned the Earth into an agrarian society, and famine threatens to wipe out civilization. To prevent this, the covert remnants of NASA recruit former pilot/astronaut-turned-farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) to lead a research team through a wormhole to find suitable planets for resettlement. Cooper’s decision to accept the mission puts him at odds with his daughter Murph, and a series of setbacks as well as time dilation keep him absent for most of his children’s lives. However, Cooper remains determined to both complete the mission and make it home.

Thanks to a (pun unintended) stellar track record, the success of a Christopher Nolan film is almost a given at this point, which is why the director deserves credit here for making his latest effort earn its plaudits. Overly long, ambitious, complex, and spiritually as well as intellectually challenging, Interstellar has its share of shortcomings as well as moments of brilliance.

As with other Nolan fare, Interstellar packs a formidable stylistic punch. Working with a new cinematographer (Wally Pfister was off directing his own far less successful sci-fi film), Nolan imparts a sense of wonder and majesty into everything from dust storms to frozen wastelands to the depths of space itself. Visually, the film pays homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey (among others) without wallowing in cliché (the robots aboard the ship, for instance, resemble neither HAL nor androids). Meanwhile, Hans Zimmer’s score is a departure from some of his previous work – don’t look for The Dark Knight’s scary strings here – that still oozes gravitas.

This weightiness suits Interstellar’s role as a Film of Ideas, a role it never lets you forget. Inspired by the work of theoretical physicist Kip Thorne (who served as a consultant), the movie aims to offer a grounded look at phenomena such as wormholes, black holes, and gravitational time dilation. The presentation is the antithesis of the breezily convenient space magic suggested by other sci-fi narratives as Nolan and Thorne try to show their work.. Less scholastically, the film also suggests that love is a universal force, but it’s an idea that comes across as laughably hokey and naïve.

As a consequence of this preoccupation with theory and theme, characterization takes a backseat for much of the voyage. Cooper is the kind of everyman reluctant hero that Tom Hanks would have portrayed ten years ago. Having McConaughey fill his shoes brings some emotional intensity, but this is still sedate and rather bland compared to the rest of the Texan’s recent work. Three different actresses portray Murph in different stages of her life, and each performance hits the right note. Mackenzie Foy is precocious, Jessica Chastain is bitter, and Ellen Burstyn is dignified. Beyond them, the other characters are given little depth. As Cooper’s mentor Dr. Brand, Michael Caine feebly and persistently quotes Dylan Thomas while Anne Hathaway portrays Brand’s daughter – and Cooper’s fellow voyager – with an inexplicable foolhardy streak. Both of the voyage’s robots (voiced by Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart), sarcastic, low-key, and helpful, were of more interest than many of the supporting characters.

Unsurprisingly given the lack of attention to character, dialogue is not a strong point here. Jonathan Nolan’s script has its moments. As mentioned previously, the robots are quite amusing, and Cooper gets to gloriously ream out some school administrators who treat the moon landings as a hoax. Far too often, however, the dialogue comes across as stilted and pedantic. This is especially true toward the film’s ending when Cooper monologues everything that is happening to him as if he has a classroom full of physics students watching his every move. Though done rather transparently for the audience’s benefit, this scene plays as confusing as it does false.

Imperfect as it is, Interstellar still manages to show that it is possible to emphasize the science side of science fiction without boring an audience to tears. Though it could have benefitted from a shorter running time and fuller characters, it still inspires a fair amount of reverence and awe. Much like the journey depicted on screen, you might not like what you see as you near the end, but it’s still a trip worth taking.

8.25/10