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.