Jack and I liked this sci-fi thriller about a future astronaut trying to save humanity from a dystopian Earth, despite its excessive (2:49) length, and we couldn't immediately think what to trim. I told the waitress at dinner that night that it had at least five stories and Jack added, "Each of them two hours long." McConaughey (last blogged in The Wolf of Wall Street) is well-suited to the role of the devoted father and maverick astronaut chosen to save the species as is Michael Caine (most recently in Now You See Me) as the éminence grise. Powerful performances are are given by Jessica Chastain (last in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) and young Mackenzie Foy. Anne Hathaway (most recently mentioned in Don Jon and linked to previous work in Les Misérables) plays the Sandra Bullock part, er, the co-astronaut, and it's always nice to see Ellen Burstyn (most recently in Draft Day), even in a cameo. That's the voice of Bill Irwin (I always think of him as a mime, which he played in Scenes from a Mall (1991), but maybe clown is more accurate; and then he's done a lot of good work in a lot of good projects, including Rachel Getting Married, which starred Hathaway, and Higher Ground) as the robot TARS.
Director Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan co-wrote the complex script; the same jobs they had on The Dark Knight Rises.
The magnificent images are shot by Hoyte van Hoytema (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), though there are obviously a lot of computer generated effects. A filmmaker told me before we saw it that there is an awesome long tracking shot involving the pickup truck, but I missed it. The 92 items of trivia are fascinating and tell a lot about the science behind the movie.
Composer Hans Zimmer (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) is at the top of his game here with a majestic score. There are several places to stream the soundtrack. This is one (the ad on it for the new HBO series is great) but be forewarned that every site I tried stopped dead after a while--even after I rebooted my computer just now.
Those afflicted by Motion Picture Motion Sickness (MPMS) should sit in the back and look away occasionally.
Some are calling this the best movie of the decade. That's a prediction I find highly improbable. With critics on Rotten Tomatoes averaging 73% and audiences at 87, this is a must-see for science fiction buffs and McConaughey fans and not bad for anyone else, either.
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