INTERSTELLAR  3.8***

             “Interstellar” is an epic story about the earth dying, with its soil no longer able to sustain crops other than corn, and the inevitably extinction of humanity. Our hero is an ex-NASA test pilot named Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a typical ordinary-guy-in-an-extraordinary-situation  who's also a dedicated family man, especially toward his daughter, Murphy.  Cooper is summoned by a now-defunct NASA to become humanity's last hope in finding a new home, for they have found a wormhole near Saturn  which will time-warp the astronauts’ spaceship to another galaxy in a quest for a habitable planet.  

 

Many filmgoers will find similarities to  Stanley Kubrick's “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) in the sense that they are not whiz-bang sci-fi action movies  but more of a  slow-building, thinking person’s sci-fi movie . The space scenes are serenely suspenseful just like in last year’s “Gravity”, but unlike the documentary feel of Gravity, there's a real gusto and pace to these scenes. The visuals  are majestic and very innovative, particularly in the third act where whole new dimensions of time and space are created and thus where you should be prepared for unexpected twists. “Interstellar” is more than just sci-fi, it is also a human drama intertwined in space and a time loop.

The emotional core of this story is the relationship of  McConaughey's character, Cooper,   and his daughter, Murphy  ( by the way, three very talented actresses play the character of Murphy at different ages: Mackenzie Foy, Jessica Chastain & Ellen Burstyn).  For the role of Cooper, they needed an actor who could be an everyday guy who is experiencing incredible circumstances and McConaughey plays the role perfectly, and masterfully displays the emotions required of a man who has to drop everything, especially his family when he knows he probably may never see them again. You can see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice and your heart rises and falls with his emotions  . Anne Hathaway,  Michael Caine, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Ellen Burstyn and other actors do a fine job as the supporting characters. ( NOTE; the cast has  6… yes 6 Oscar winners.. count them). Also, it should be noted that there are two robots that accompany our heroes in this difficult journey….robots unlike any you’ve ever seen before. They add a touch of humor and fascination to the film, which helps to offset the at times depressing, dramatic, and sometimes really dark atmosphere.

 

But this unparalleled adventure of space, time and humanity would not have happened but for the vision and creativity of Christopher Nolan who co-wrote and directed the film. As with his other notable movies, Nolan works with the very best technical talents, many of whom are award-winners in their fields, and very likely will be nominated for this film  At the end of the day, all I can say is that” Interstellar” is a grand film. It is monolithic, thoughtful, sentimental, sophisticated, visceral and has few flaws ( those being  a less than smooth flowing script and the length at 169 minutes ( that’s only 11 min. short of 3 hrs)) .

 

I highly recommend you see this on a big screen at a movie theatre and preferably at an IMAX theatre.

 

Rated PG-13 for some intense perilous action and brief strong language ( but a “soft” PG-13)

 

Clark

 

NOTE: RE Director Christopher Nolan, here is a list, and what a list it is, of the movies he has directed:

 

 2014 Interstellar

 2012 The Dark Knight Rises

 2010 Inception

 2008 The Dark Knight

 2006 The Prestige

 2005 Batman Begins

 2002 Insomnia

 2000 Memento

 1998 Following