Interstellar (2014) - Review
Originally published February 2016Christopher Nolan has quickly become one of my favorite film directors; I have yet to see a movie of his that I strongly dislike. His movies always attempt to tell an ambitious story with strong themes and thought-provoking ideas, often at the cost of believability. Even if the movies aren't on track with what they're trying to say, he still manages to make it entertaining. I've certainly been disappointed by some of his films, like The Dark Night Rises, but even those disappointments had some qualities to them that made them thought-provoking, entertaining, or, at the very least, interesting. Interstellar came out a couple of years ago and received mixed reviews, though still mostly positive, so I lowered my expectations a little. Having finally gotten around to watching it recently, I was not disappointed like so many others seemed to be.
That isn't to say the film is perfect. It still requires a significant suspension of disbelief, as is typical of Nolan's style, and some loose ends are wrapped up a little too conveniently. Not to mention, it gets a bit sentimental for my tastes. Nevertheless, I was captivated by the film from the beginning to the end of its long run-time.
Image: Paramount
Pros
Beautiful film with great cinematography and space shots that look great on an HD screen that's big enough to accommodate them
Hanz Zimmer's score adds serene tension
Handling of particular moments and the passage of time works to the film's advantage, most of the time
Exciting big set pieces
Filled with tension
Clever, though not always subtle, social commentary in the beginning
Scientific theories used in this story breed a multitude of story ideas
Cons
Suspension of disbelief is required
Still a long movie with considerable downtime in the beginning
If you absolutely hate math and science you won't care for this movie
If you absolutely love math and science, you might have an issue with how they play with some ideas
Ambitious premise gets in the way of itself
Editing is not ideal; some jumps between characters are jarring or spaced out poorly
Long
Deus Ex Machina solutions; very 2001: A Space Odyssey
Sentimental AF
Littered with cliché dialogue and melodrama
Plot & Thoughts
I don't claim to have the slightest idea how any of the scientific theories mentioned in Interstellar work, nor do I know how correct their formulas and ideas are. I just am familiar with the basic concept of gravity stretching time with the theory of relativity. I'm familiar with the idea that matter under extreme gravity will experience time differently from those of us on Earth and will, in effect, age slower than us. If you've never heard of said concept, I suggest looking it up beforehand because it is something that is quickly mentioned in the film and then it's just assumed that you'll be okay following along with it afterward. I never felt lost, but I think that those watching this movie having never even been familiar with that particular concept will have some trouble keeping up. Getting to that point where this becomes an issue, however, takes about 50+ minutes, so you have time to look it up while you're watching the movie.
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The first half-hour of the film is spent introducing us to the characters. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is a former engineer/pilot who has turned to corn farming due to a recent food crisis facing the world. Through the casual dialogue exchanged between him and other characters during this section, we learn that this is the near-future, where many civilizations of the world have collapsed and those still standing are now much more concerned with the continued preservation of mankind than war over resources. We don't get much of a view of the whole world outside of these bits of dialogue and the eventual exposition dump by Michael Caine's character—because of course, he's in a Christopher Nolan movie. We just get a view of these people in middle America (if it is even America anymore) and have to assume that what's true here, is true elsewhere.
Humanity is facing extinction within a few generations because Earth is slowly becoming uninhabitable to humans. Disease is spreading through foods, there are no signs of any living animals anymore. The world is becoming a huge dust bowl, spreading lung disease and dry dust that is incapable of growing any agriculture. It's a dire situation that requires extreme solutions.
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Cooper therefore enlists to help save the world. How could he save it? Well, since he's so smart and the movie spends so much time establishing how intelligent he and his daughter Murphy are, we can only assume that Earth is in good hands. He has a son too, Tom, but he has a much less active role in the movie. There's almost no reason for him to be in the film other than some basic sentimental moments and establishing the average working man in the world as it collapses. He offers some false tension later on, but he's definitely a removed character whose only purpose is to move an emotional scene along. The lack of interest Cooper seems to have in Tom in comparison to his daughter is almost startling in some respects. Murphy is the main child the audience should be concerned about because she's the one he's concerned about.
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Murphy is the character we follow back on Earth while Cooper is up in space looking for a solution to the problem. It's a good dynamic and I was interested in seeing both storylines play out, even though there was a bit of tension and drama that annoyed me. Some loose ends are tied up for both stories that are done so in a convenient, Christopher Nolan (aka Deus Ex Machina) fashion, but they'd be a lot worse in less capable hands. At least he did some foreshadowing to these outcomes. I still ended up enjoying the conclusion because I enjoyed the rest of the ride.
That being said, it takes a long time to get to the ride where they explain the actual plot of the film. I'm inclined to cut my discussion of it here since it feels like I'd be spoiling the movie if I talk about things that happen after the 50-minute mark, even though that's when things start happening. Interstellar might be predictable to some (it wasn't to me), but the less about the plot and events of the movie you know, the more fun it will be watching it. So, much like how Christopher Nolan's plots require you to take his word for it, I'll ask the same. Just take my word for it that if you're bored by the quality characterization and story-telling in the beginning, it gets more exciting when they get to space and shit gets real, then maybe dips a little in quality as it gets a little 2001: A Space Odyssey-ish.
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If it sounds like I'm praising it too much, keep in mind that I still think it's far from perfect and not as good as some other movies by Nolan. Where Interstellar gets into the most trouble is how complicated the premise is and how little time it actually has to explain its complicated story in a meaningful way. At its core, Interstellar is a character drama about a man who reluctantly leaves his family with the hopes of returning to his children, who may actually be older than him by the time he gets back. Nolan experimented with time before in Inception and was able to manipulate it with the use of dreams.
Here, however, he's using real science (concepts) and has to come up with a scenario as to why a man who cares so much about his family would leave them for space instead of staying or at least waiting until after his children grew up a little more. The time it takes to characterize the protagonists and the time it takes to get them into precarious situations does not leave a lot of time to explain the math and science behind everything, so they gloss over the scientific theories involved and just say that they need more data from xyz. There are plenty of moments where you are just asked to go with it, which is typical of Nolan's films with their theming and ambitious ideas. Inception required the audience to just go with what the characters were saying and doing without asking too many questions, and the same is true here. It's not really a problem for me so long as the movie is entertaining, which Interstellar manages to be, but there are plenty of moments where I felt that I had to suspend my disbelief so much that, if I didn't, it might ruin my experience in some way. There are some other flaws that I'd like to point out, but that would require discussing details so let's just skip to the conclusion.
TL;DR (Conclusion)
Interstellar suffers from a premise that got too big for itself. It's a character drama, but that drama isn't as good as the filmmakers might have intended, simply because of the clichés and melodrama used to try to move quickly through the evolving and expanding storyline. I get the impression that they had a lot more to say in this movie, but because the space travel required more time, explanation, and excitement, they had to use creative writing shortcuts to wrap everything up.
Nonetheless, it is an intriguing and thought-provoking movie, even if it might not be scientifically accurate (I don't know if it is or not). I'm very intrigued by the story of Earth without wildlife and war in this not-so-distant future. I'm intrigued by the alien worlds that exist at the far end of the universe. I'm intrigued by the use of time and gravity in the film and how that plays into the storytelling. I may be a little biased because I typically like Nolan's films and I like the concepts he's playing with in Interstellar, or it could just a fine movie with some unfortunate plot holes and sentimentality sprinkled in.
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