Movie Review: Interstellar (2014)

Like all films by Christopher Nolan, Interstellar is a philosophical treatise disguised as cinematic entertainment.  Inception and Memento were about the limitations of our perceptions of the world, The Prestige dealt with the metaphysics of patterns and their social implications, and his Batman films (especially The Dark Knight) reveled in tossing out ethical conundrums that pushed our conception of morality to the extreme.  I think it's amazing that Nolan has been able to take relatively deep subject matters and still appeal to the masses.

But for the most part, science hasn't been a focus.  It's been there, but just as a set-up for his larger interests-- science might have well have been magic, because it wouldn't have made a difference in the stories.  That changes with Interstellar.  Following the trend set by last year's Gravity, hard science science fiction is making a comeback.

Apparently 2001: A Space Odyssey was the film that inspired Nolan to become a film director, and it shows.  Interstellar takes its time to tell its story.  We get to see lovely visuals of this Earth of the near future and how it's falling apart.  Once Cooper, played by Matthew McConaughey, is launched into space, the visuals become even more stunning.  The universe is one of the greatest canvasses ever seen by man.  Not only do we see stars and planets, but we see space-time warping those images into something new.  The ghost of Stanley Kubrick is everywhere.

But as brilliant the imagery is, there's also an emotional weight here that's often absent in Nolan's films.  This movie is not just an intellectual puzzle, but an appeal to our humanity.  The relationship between Cooper and his kids (specifically Murph, as played by Jessica Chastain) can be heartbreaking at times, and Cooper's desire to both save his family and to survive long enough to see them again drives much of the action.

Interstellar is big, ambitious story-telling that will affect you on multiple levels.  But it's not a perfect film.

My biggest problem was a technical one-- the music was too loud in the mix.  I found the music to be similarly distracting during Inception, but it's worse this time because it obscures key dialogue.  It's possible it was just the theater I was in, but I've heard this complain from others, so beware.

There are points when the movie seems to drag-- it's nearly 3 hours long, and it could've been tighter (though, I'll admit, I didn't realize it was 3 hours while watching it-- I was stuck in the moment).  There are also issues with pacing-- some of the big conflicts in the middle of the film seem a bit forced, as did their resolutions.  And, despite the filmmakers' attempts to be scientifically accurate, it works against the story when it gets more fanciful.

But this is a good film.  The best recommendation I can give for it is that I talked about it for a couple hours afterward.  So check it out, bring a friend, and then let us know what you thought in the comments below.