Take 64: Project Hail Mary
In Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling is Ryland Grace, former biologist and junior high science teacher with a PhD in molecular biology turned astronaut who wakes up alone on a space craft known as the Hail Mary. Upon waking, he finds the other members of his crew have died in transit and he is suffering from amnesia. As his memory gradually returns, he recalls the circumstances that brought him there: his one-way mission to save Earth from a star-eating microbe called Astophage which is dimming the Sun. He eventually befriends an alien engineer he nicknames Rocky but will they two be able to overcome the communication gap and thwart cosmic oblivion?
Who does’t like Ryan Gosling? He anchors this movie from start to finish. His real life nice guy persona translates directly to Grace. He is intelligent, affable, nerdy, loyal, nervous, and heroic all at the same time. He paints the broads strokes defining the character early on and the flashbacks serve to reinforce everything we thought we already knew about the character. This cements him among the likes of Tom Hanks and Keanu Reeves and other relatable every men.
This one is definitely sci-fi, and it plays with the line of being too hard the sci-finess to turn off people who aren’t big fans of it. It stays human enough. The large strokes are simply enough. They throw out enough hard science for people who are into that but fortunately the story doesn’t ever feel bogged down if you aren’t. The stakes are definitely big- we’re talking the fate of the planet, so the weight is there.
Equally important to the plot is the theme of lonliness. When the movie begins, Grace is all alone. The people that were supposed to be on this mission were unexpectedly dead. He spends a good deal of first part of the movie, alone. He does a fairly good job coping- he never sits and wallows in the fact that he might never see another living soul again. It’s not until he meets Rocky that he seems to realize just how lonely he had been. Once the friendship is forged, he/we are reminded of just how important connection is. Watching them begin to actually get each other is when the film is at its best, and Rocky is a lot better than a volleyball.
Visually, this film is very pretty to look at so I would definitely recommend seeing this on the big screen if possible. If feels vast and cosmic and believable, until it doesn’t. There are a couple of moments that were clearly fake. I can only assume this was intentional. I thought they were going for 1950s pulp cheesy Sci-Fi. At least I hope they were because I absolutely chuckled the two or three times it happened.
There is very little actual action in this movie yet. That’s taking a risk, especially given the short attention spans people have nowadays. This movie is till is able to sustain your interest for over two and a half hours. That’s good storytelling. That’s having compelling performances. That’s delivering something different.
My score: 9.1
Ready to sign up for Project Leave a Comment? Nothing holding you back, so please get to it. And until next time…
