Interstellar (M)
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine
INTERSTELLAR, Christopher Nolan’s latest science fiction epic, is an epic, beautiful, exciting mess.
For a near-future Earth stricken with catastrophic food shortages, space travel is both a fading dream and humanity’s last hope.
Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a pilot turned farmer, leads a daring mission through a wormhole in the hope of finding habitable planets for us to live on.
Interstellar is anchored by a remarkably emotional performance from McConaughey, and has some staggering imagery, exhilarating set-pieces and a fantastic commitment to scientific accuracy rarely seen in mainstream blockbusters.
But while it gets the specifics right, Interstellar neglects the general stuff, as the human drama is badly mismanaged.
Every character except Cooper feels underdeveloped, the dialogue is dry and overblown and the themes of love and connection feel trite. Much of the suspense from the doomed Earth is also diminished when you notice that over two decades have passed and life seems unchanged.
Cooper’s relationship with his young daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) is heart-breaking; the sub-plot with Murph’s older self (Jessica Chastain) is rushed and simplistic.
The ending may also make or break the film for you. For the record, I thought it was ingeniously elegant, but it may stretch credibility too far for you.
Not a bad movie by any stretch, Interstellar is just too flat, talky and heavy-handed in the downtime between the thrilling spectacle.
Call it a mild failure.
– Seth Hynes
