‘I’ On Culture By Leonard Wechsler
Let me put it simply. The new film Project Hail Mary is not only really good, but the best film I have seen in several years. The ideas are not particularly new. There is some 2001: A Space Odyssey, E.T. and even Castaway in its DNA. But it is an absorbing, fascinating and exciting trip all the way. Finally, I have seen a movie I can love.
Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes from a coma on a spacecraft, light years away from earth. He is the only survivor of a crew of three and has a case of retroactive amnesia that blocks him from remembering, at first, what has happened. Gradually, in flashbacks, he begins to remember. He had been a middle school science teacher, despite a doctorate, because his ideas on molecular biology in terms of “autophages” (beings that eat themselves up) had been shunted aside, but scientists had found that our sun was dimming because of the formation of an infrared line from Venus that sent a microorganism called the Astrophage that is “eating” the power of the sun and will create a catastrophic cooling on Earth in 30 years. A government agent, Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) asks him to study it, and he learns that it is a cell impenetrable to electromagnetic radiation, and it breeds when carbon dioxide from Venus saps the sun’s energy.
Only one star in the galaxy seems immune, and that is Tau Ceti. Three astronauts are to be sent there on a one-way trip to discover, hopefully, how to stop the destruction of our planet. He learns that he has been forced to join, but as he approaches the new star, he meets an alien, who he dubs Rocky, on a similar mission. The movie deals with how the two learn to accept each other, work together and create bonds. And that is where the movie shines. Watching the two learn to communicate, work together and bond is wonderful drama, with a few comic touches.
Gosling is marvelous. He carries the film. Although we see other humans in brief flashbacks, he is pretty much the focus of this more than two-and-a-half-hour movie. Yes, it’s long, and an absolutely packed theater on a Friday early afternoon stayed glued to their seats throughout. Gosling’s character, Dr. Grace, is far from perfect. Yes, he is creative. But he’s a bit of a klutz and feels he is a loser. He never wanted to go on what was a suicide mission. But he works to save not only Earth, but Eridani, Rocky’s home world. And we’re rooting for him the whole way.
Like another great science fiction movie, The Martian, this film is based on a novel by Andy Weir. That means there is a lot of real science. I like movies that treat the audience as though they actually have a brain. In this case, we experience how Grace figures out a way to communicate, how they learn about the solution to the problem and how each of the protagonists, human and alien, wind up bonding. Too bad more of us in a single species have not learned how to do that better.
But the combination of brilliant camerawork (the film was shot in IMAX and adjusted afterward), strong music and good performances takes this movie, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, to wonderful heights. There is so much to like in the film. Gosling clearly proves he is a movie star. As I wrote earlier, he carries the movie, and we wind up caring about him. Hüller is very strong in a far smaller but very complex role. And Rocky, created by Neal Scanlon, and voiced by James Ortiz who, along with his puppeteer team, becomes a real character instead of a gimmick. Drew Goddard, who also did the screenplay for The Martian, did a brilliant job in creating a story that combined with movie magic draws the audience in and holds it in place.
Most people who read my reviews know that I love science fiction. I love all it can be when it is brilliant. This film qualifies. Yes, it is somewhat derivative. Who cares? The ship, the worldscapes, the science all add to the story. But it is the feelings that create the amazing outcome.
This is a movie to see in the theater; in IMAX if you can. I will return and watch it again. It makes me feel good to have actually gone to a movie theater and seen a film as good as this. See it.
