David and I went to go see Interstellar on Friday night. I did not know much about the movie other than David really wanted to see it. I had heard the movie was beautiful to watch, so I figured it couldn’t be too bad a way to spend a Friday night. I was wrong. Should definitely have gone to see Big Hero 6.
I will say the movie is beautiful to watch. If I were heading to an IMAX movie about space that would be sufficient. The problem here is that the movie being beautiful is the only thing it has going for it. And I can head right on over to NASA.gov to see beautiful images and video of space for free. I wouldn’t have a problem paying to see a beautiful movie about space if that was the sole purpose of the movie. However, Interstellar was supposed to be a good movie that involves spaces. It was not.
You can’t really blame the actors that appeared in the movie. Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway did a decent job with what they were given. The two actresses that played Murph Cooper, both as a child (Mackenzie Foy) and as an adult (Jessica Chastain), did a great job. I think they were the best of what the movie had to offer. I don’t really have any complaints about Christopher Nolan as a director. However, I cannot say he is not to blame for what was bad about the movie as he was a co-writer with Jonathan Nolan.
The storyline for Interstellar was horrible. And they managed to make it go for almost three hours. The premise for the movie is that a small remnant of NASA is in hiding and working to send astronauts in to space to look for off world locations to begin human colonies as Earth is dying. Not a bad premise for the movie, but it was handled badly. First, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey’s character) is left seeming a little dim for an astronaut. Then the main antagonist, Doctor Mann (played by Matt Damon), is either one of the cruelest people around or is a huge idiot. Not sure which he is supposed to be. Maybe both. But I definitely am leaning toward’s him being an idiot. A friend of mine said that she started viewing it as more of a fairytale and then she was able to enjoy the movie. But I didn’t think the pay off at the end was good enough for a fairytale. (Okay, maybe a Grimm fairytale.)
As for the deep philosophical meaning the movie was supposed to contain, I never did find it. Yes, Anne Hathaway had a nice little monologue about love, but as far as I could tell, it was the only attempt to give any meaning to the film. For that reason, I am not sure why so many others found so much deep meaning. I don’t know if it’s because viewers hear there is supposed to be great meaning, so they go search for it lest they be the only person who can’t find it or if it’s because people are seeking meaning for life in the wrong places (movies), that leads people to find great meaning in Interstellar, but it sure was not there for me.
I think by now you already know whether I recommend this movie, but if you are unsure the answer is a resounding “no”. Go play miniature golf, see another movie or take a hike with the family. These are all much better uses of your time than watching Interstellar.
My husband and I went to see this. We loved it. This appears to be a movie where you either love it or hate it. The way they incorporated science into it, our perception of time, quantum physics, etc., was enough to win us over. The story lines themselves were secondary, but added relevance to the science aspect.
For my dh, the science was why he hated it. That’s why there are so many different movies out there. We all want something different. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.