As an astute co-worker noted, ‘If Inception and Gravity had a baby, it would be Interstellar. It’s a mind-bender with an exceptional cast and a story that those of us who (intentionally) skipped Physics in grade school will surely fail to grasp. No spoilers here – ‘cause I’m not really sure what happened!
Anyway, fans of director Christopher Nolan’s 2010 brain-strainer Inception will surely appreciate this flick as well. And like last year’s Gravity, Interstellar needs to be seen on the big screen in all its IMAX glory. It’s experiential. Sometimes loud and pulsating (bring earplugs). Sometimes eerily silent.
Matthew McConaughey continues what has now been a lengthy and successful ‘McConaissance’. He plays Cooper, a pilot-turned farmer, and single dad to two kids. Cooper makes the difficult choice to leave them behind as he embarks on a mission to save the future of humankind. He joins a small team of explorers who venture into space to find an alternate planet that can sustain human life, ‘cause Earth is basically dying.
Due to some sort of time-space-continuum conundrum, Cooper and his comrades age at a much slower pace than their Earth-bound kin. So years and decades pass on Earth, as mere days, weeks and months progress in space. It makes for trippy stuff.
Anne Hathaway (sporting her short Les Miz ‘do) plays Cooper’s co-pilot Amelia. Much like Sandra Bullock in Gravity, I did not feel that Hathaway was born to play this part. I would have liked to see a pairing with a bit more ‘gravitational pull’.
The supporting cast includes plenty of A-listers, from Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon, to veteran actors Michael Caine, John Lithgow and Ellen Burstyn. Their roles are relatively small, but well-played.
Interstellar is rated PG-13 and runs nearly three hours long. Fortunately, your mind and bladder are sufficiently distracted by trying to figure out what the heck is happening. Bottom line: Interstellar is Inception in space. If you like mindbenders and sci-fi movies with heart, then you’ll likely enjoy Interstellar on some level – even if you don’t really understand the plot.