2014: A Space Odyssey - "Interstellar"

What to make of this Christopher Nolan fellow?  His epic movies are made with minimal CGI, shot on film, and feature old-fashioned sentimentality.  Yet critics embrace him, audiences flock to see his films, A-list actors want to work for him, and the online community seems to worship everything he does.  His new sci-fi spectacle Interstellar is banking on his popularity, as the previews for this big-budget extravaganza lack any explosions, battles, or anything else resembling the Star Wars/Star Trek realm.  The question is what will history make of Mr. Nolan's movies?  Inception got rave reviews and made a ton of money, but I found it a boring and incoherent mess of silliness.  And take away Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight and you have one dull Batman movie.  Ever aiming for the stars, Mr. Nolan now takes on even bigger, more important issues about man, his future, and the universe.

Interstellar tries really, really hard to be 2001:  A Space Odyssey but it falls short.  It's not even Robert Zemeckis's Contact.  Imagine 2001 with every scene explained in detailed, repetitive dialogue.  Then have astronaut Dave saying how much he misses his family and can't wait to get home.  In every scene.  And imagine if 2001 was stealing shots, images, and ideas from a 40 year old movie.  But that wasn't the case, which is why 2001 is a ground-breaking masterpiece, and Interstellar is not.  So what is it?

 
Interstellar is a technically impressive, philosophical drama about one man's need to save his family.  I emphasize the drama, as the action is few and far between.  When it does happen, it almost seems out of place.  Matthew McConaughey plays the family man in charge of saving mankind, as drought and other natural disasters have taken a toll on Earth.  When a wormhole is discovered just outside of Saturn, Astronaut McConaughey says "Alright, Alright" and hops on a rocket.

Half of the movie takes place on Earth, grounded in real world problems such as family, parenting, love and loss.  And the other half takes place in space.  Some of the space travel is exciting, but most of it is not all that original or imaginative.  Most of Interstellar is like The Dark Knight waiting for the Joker to appear.

And the more I've had time to ponder the movie, the more I dislike it.  Too many plot holes and head-scratchers.  Such as who actually put the wormhole out near Saturn and why all the way out there?  Perhaps I missed something.  I do know that within the first hour much time is spent on plot points that never go anywhere, such as Captain McConaughey's quest to capture the lost drone.  That sure was important.

The movie suffers from a major lack of conflict.  Much like the screenplay to Inception, this is a script that if an unknown writer submitted it to a studio it would be rejected.  In this instance, the lack of solid drama with too much exposition would turn most people away.  Interstellar has no antagonist, and most of the plight that the future Earthlings encounter happens off-screen and out of sight.  Every time I thought something bad would happen, it didn't.  

Another problem is this movie is not about what it is about.  Meaning mankind's interstellar search for a new earth-like home and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.  Those are the issues that set the wheels in motion, but eventually it's all dropped and the movie becomes a father-daughter drama.  That cool water-world we've seen in the previews?  Never explored, never given a second thought.  That really big wave?  We'll never know if it was some evil alien or a really fascinating deity.  It's just a stormy day, now it's time to take off because I miss my kids.  In the end, I can't help but feeling ripped off.  I was expecting (and hoping) for a movie that's groundbreaking, new and imaginative.  Instead, it's a fairly routine story with some intense Hans Zimmer music. 

Like M. Night Shyamalan, Christopher Nolan is a talented director with several bad ideas and delusions of grandeur (interesting note:  they were born seven days apart).  What bothers me is that IMDB has six (soon to be seven) of Mr. Nolan's movies listed in the 100 top-rated movies of all time.  A little pre-mature.  Has anybody ever quoted Inception to you?  Will they in 50 years?  Yet Inception is rated higher than Goodfellas, Star Wars, Casablanca, and Citizen Kane.

Now we have Interstellar - a decent time at the movies, especially when projected in 70mm film.  But better than The Godfather?  It's not even Topher Grace's best movie. 

You filming me? Are you filming me? - "Nightcrawler" movie review

Jake Gyllenhaal redefines creepy as Lou Bloom, a modern day Travis Bickle adrift in Los Angeles.  Like Taxi Driver forty years ago, Nightcrawler follows a rogue square peg unable to fit into the contemporary black hole of society.  Filmed almost entirely at night, Nightcrawler is a gorgeous-looking, yet brutal dissection of 21st Century morals, and how they're influenced by local news.

If anyone remembers the coyote wandering the urban streets in Michael Mann's Collateral, then imagine an entire movie about that coyote.  Jake Gyllenhaal plays the coyote as a fierce, instinctual scavenger who feeds on other people's garbage and scares anyone who gets close.  It's a phenomenal performance, and Mr. Gyllenhaal has never been better - or scarier.

His character begins as an out of work, petty thief, but soon decides that a career as a nighttime videographer of accidents and crime is his calling.  It's fascinating to watch him learn the bare minimum and quickly transform into a success.  Of course, success is a relative term.  He also lacks any sense of right and wrong, and doesn't care much for the law.  Like many recent movies, Nightcrawler features a protagonist that is an unlikeable sinner.  Unlike Taxi Driver or other past anti-hero portraits, Nightcrawler does not highlight any hero qualities, and Lou Bloom never does the right thing.  This results in an unsettling experience for the audience, and ultimately I'm not sure what to think.  Actually, I know what to think but it's a frightening thought about how to succeed in America.  In that sense, echoes of There Will Be Blood rattle throughout this modern parallel.

To help battle his demons, Lou confronts two outstanding co-stars.  First is the local news director played by Rene Russo.  Leading the city's least watched news broadcast, her character's professional ethics are also a blurry signal.  She enables Lou's career by encouraging his work and stroking his personal ego.  She gives him the only lesson he needs when she sums up her industry with the movie's best rallying cry:  "Think about our newscast as a screaming woman running down the street with her throat cut."

Lou recruits a partner-in-crime:  a nearly homeless, uneducated young man played by Riz Ahmed.  An excellent young actor who was the best part of last year's Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mr. Ahmed brings heart and spirit to a man also seeking his American dream, but with a clearer moral judgment.  It's captivating to watch him spar with Lou, as the bullshit is slung, and the two have-nots fight for power. 

The movie is a scathing portrait of local news, reminiscent of such classic films as Network and Broadcast News.  But this is more about the individual.  Who's feeding who?  Who needs who?  It's a compelling debate, and Nightcrawler does an excellent job moderating the discussion.