INTERSTELLAR

Went to see this last night with my oldest son, Miles, on his suggestion and was glad I did. Even though I'd read good things about INTERSTELLAR (and a few bad things), the few ads I'd seen hadn't attracted me so I wouldn't have gone to see it on my own but rather waited til it came out on cable. (The poster above gives an idea of the ad campaign, which relied too heavily on Matthew McConaughey who despite his recent acting triumphs had become too ubiquitous for my taste. Especially after those so easily mockable Lincoln commercials.)

So I was expecting the same kind of disappointment I felt with GRAVITY, which I had avoided on the big screen as well and so missed out on half the fun according to its fans. Well, the same might apply here. I don't know if INTERSTELLAR will work as well on a small screen, but in the movie theater it held my attention for almost every second of every scene and that's saying a lot for a longer than usual movie.

The acting is terrific, including MccConaughy, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastiain (and Ellen Burstyn in a cameo role that's as good as any other thing she's ever done, except maybe REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, her greatest performance), and the special effects impressive (if a tad overblown at times) but it's the writing, despite the occasional flaws, that makes this story work and finally fulfills the potential displayed by director/writer Christopher Nolan in his previously most successful film before INTERSTELLAR (for my taste) MEMENTO.

I grabbed my armrests a few times and shed a couple of tears (his last few movies were too cynical for me to even engage emotionally with), at least once if not more, and felt totally engaged, like I said, for almost every second of this flick (despite its contrivances, which only resonated with classic Hollywood for me). It moves up to the top of the great movies about fathers list, up there with FIELD OF DREAMS, only that was a father and son story ultimately, while this is a father and daughter movie. I highly recommend you catch it on a big screen with a great sound system and let it take you for a compellingly entertaining ride.