Movie Review - Interstellar

Interstellar **** (out of 5) (PG-13) One of the most anticipated movies of the Fall will also rank among the longest (close to three hours) and most confusing. This space opera is set in a dystopian near future, in which Earth has become another Dust Bowl, with food becoming harder to grow for what’s left of the populace. One surviving family of farmers includes Matthew McConaughey, his two kids and father-in-law (John Lithgow). Matthew was just beginning his career as an astronaut when disaster struck, ending the program and much of modern communication and technology. His daughter shares his love of science, but that’s not considered much of an asset when brutal climatic conditions threaten global starvation...or worse.

But Matthew stumbles upon arcane clues from some mysterious source that lead him to a secret surviving NASA facility. He’s recruited to fly through a wormhole that could be a shortcut to another galaxy for colonization, since Earth’s habitability can’t be restored. It’s a race against time while bending time, hoping to find a new world before everyone on ours dies out. Leaving his family is agonizing, but essential. Anne Hathaway is one of the scientists on the mission to find which of the previous dozen explorers, if any, found potential new homes for our species.

The visuals and f/x elements are stunning - especially if seen in an IMAX theater, where one can viscerally share a number of big moments. This one raises the bar over last year’s Gravity in terms of compelling space-flight simulations. The scientific components might be more coherent than my kind of book-learnin’ prepared me to appreciate, but seemed to careen between cogent principles with plausible applications and over-the-top speculations about space, time, gravity, etc. Even worse, the screenplay pummels a few emotional facets (father/daughter and other familial bonds; personal self-interest vs. survival of the species, among the major ones) into mind-numbing, if not alienating, submission. Confuse the heads, then wrench the hearts. Subtlety be damned.

A scattering of insights and perspectives of arguable social and political relevance elevate the product beyond the thrill ride of boldly going where few have gone before, possibly with the guiding hand of extraterrestrial allies, whose nature and motives might be discovered on the other side. But the last 30-45 minutes lower the IQ of all the preceding activity in a vain quest for satisfying conclusions on each subplot. Many theater exiters might be scratching their heads from ambivalence about what it all meant, and how much they enjoyed the experience, ala viewers of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. If you go, try for an IMAX venue, since that rush is too big perk to ignore. Despite its flaws, Interstellar is an impressive accomplishment, and a fine transportation upgrade for McConaughey over those ubiquitous Lincoln commercials. (11/7/14)