Interstellar

"Do not go gentle into that good night" Dylan Thomas wrote way back in the mid 20th century, and there's a resounding sense of fatalism and fearless exploration in this villanelle that sums up the essence of Interstellar. Of course, when Michael Caine reads poetry, nearly anything can sound beautiful, haunting, and deep.

Tell me that Christopher Nolan and his brother wrote a sci-fi film that has deep personal meaning to them, and that Christopher is behind the camera, and I'll pay full price anytime. He is the master of modern sci-fi action films (sorry Ridley Scott), and not in the Michael Bay way, I'm talking about the way that is respected among audiences, critics, and frankly, Hollywood.

Interstellar is a film in two parts, the first is the Earthbound character development that seems a bit rushed, but also drags out as anticipation of part two lingers. We are in middle America, in the not so distant future, and it's not so much dystopian as it is a cautionary tale addressing both overpopulation and destruction of the environment. We are entering a 21st Century dust bowl, and life is looking bleak. Corn is the only crop that grows and scientists outlook isn't optimistic. Something drastic needs to be done to save the human race.

Enter Cooper (McConaughey). He's a former NASA test pilot who never got a chance to do what he was trained to do. With the collapse of social services comes the abolition of extra programs like space exploration, so the engineer finds himself out of work, and manning a respectable if not inane life as a farmer. He desperately wants better for both of his kids, nudging them into the sciences, droning on to anyone who will listen about how adventure and exploration are lost arts, and that agriculture is simply boring. Anyhow, he stumbles upon his long, lost brethren and they welcome him back, introducing him to the last bastion of hope for humanity, the Lazarus project. Headed by the indelible Michael Caine, a staple in Nolan's recent films, the Lazarus has the remaining NASA scientists; the best and the brightest, working on breakthrough quantum physics theories since discovering a black hole near Saturn.

Of course it's ridiculous, but Nolan spins a moderately believable yarn. Jumping on the idea that gravity is the only thing keeping humans from leaving Earth in a Star Trek fashion, it is the one theory that Caine's Professor Brand is dangerously close to cracking. In the meantime, they plan to send out brave astronauts through the black hole in search of an inhabitable planet for humans. Pretty grandiose idea.

The four-person crew is led by Cooper, and Brand's daughter, Amelia (Anne Hathaway). I'm not usually a fan, but performance/character is surprisingly likable. The other two are Wes Bentley (where has he been?) and David Gyasi as physicists, engineers, or some other sort of mission specialist. This begins part two. The space sequences are beautiful, and the excitement of the possibility of undiscovered science making science fiction just plain science is both fascinating and captivating. Part two is where the magic happens. The crew races against time (literally) in their search for the brave pioneer astronauts who sent their data out years ago, and as they explore interstellar space, there is a sense of claustrophobia as well as awe, and what unfolds is a very clear combination of Contact, Armageddon (yep, I threw a Bay film in the mix), and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

As the film reaches its inevitable and climactic conclusion, we are reminded that this is nothing short of a Christopher Nolan masterpiece. After pondering my slight disappointment, I realized that Nolan films are larger than life. There is no way that the film could ever meet expectations, and that is what makes it a must-see. He is a genius at his craft, plain and simple. The Dark Knight and Inception were two of the best films of the past decade, not just for content, but for layered thematic story lines and incredible character portrayal. Interstellar's characters aren't quite as memorable as the Joker, or DiCaprio's Cobb, but they are certainly better than Jodie Foster, or Bruce Willis and his crew. I imagine it will draw comparisons to last year's Gravity, but they are different creatures in different genres (I would call Gravity full-on realistic, but I'm not an astronaut, so I can't be quoted). Both hold strengths, and I would say Nolan is channeling his inner Stanley Kubrick more than anything else, and for that, he should be celebrated. 2001 was iconic in so many ways, it set the bar and hasn't been touched. Hell, Kubrick can't be touched in the pantheon of cinema, but Interstellar certainly makes a valiant effort.

There can be flaws noted, particularly nearing the climax and how it explains subtle clues from earlier in the film, but not in the giddy way that Inception demanded a second viewing, even though that's what I was expecting and hoping for. The theme of man's follies in destroying the beautiful planet is a bit heavy, as is the humanist spirit to protect it. And there is a sequence of Red Planet/Mission to Mars inspiration that is somewhat unnecessary, but it's really more of a speed bump than a road block. The music drowned out the dialogue at times, and seemed a bit overbearing, but the music was such an important part of both 2001 and Inception, so I can certainly see why they went that direction.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great film all around. A magically original story with high level science explained as if it were from a State University 101 class. Very smooth. I guess I wish that the 2 1/2 hours had gone on much, much longer. And that's why I'm giving it a 9/10.