It’s a story as old as fatherhood itself. One day your dad puts on his coat, says he’s going out to discover extraterrestrial life and never comes back. You’re left hurt and confused. You spend the next 30 years trying to figure out what you did to make him leave. What you could have done better to make him stay. Then one day you hear he’s shacked up with some research project out at the edge of the solar system. Bastard is still alive. Well, you’re a man now you hope, nothing for it but to hitch-hike out there and get some answers before the old codger kills every last organism this side of the oort cloud.
Ad Astra isn’t a space movie. I mean yes, a lot of exciting and fairly improbable space-stuff happens. Brad Pitt’s character does get into a gun fight on the moon. He does sneak onto a rocket right before take off. He absolutely fights off two zero-gravity baboons, so you would think it would be a space movie. But what I mostly remember is the beautiful cinematography and the internal conflict. Besides, all of those obstacles could just as easily have been: getting into a bar brawl, breaking down in the Mojave and hopping on a boxcar, and fighting off two regular baboons. The story would be the same.
The visuals and the messaging get a little muddy at the end. Floating around outside Neptune and its rings doesn’t look as clean as the rest of the movie, and the scenes with the father are a paella of themes including: people need to rely on each other, dedication to a calling is the highest ideal, forgiveness, the wizard is just a guy behind a curtain, pity takes the steam out of anger, and human will can overcome the impossible, or maybe we should kill ourselves.
I like this movie! Other than all the action – which was well choreographed – it’s slow and plodding and takes place mostly inside of Brad Pitt’s head. It’s like Solaris but more fun. Pitt is at his understated best. His heart rate never gets above 80 and he’s a good sport about his automated psych evaluations. His character, Roy McBride, addresses his problems. He’s not always sure if it’s the right thing to do, but he knows it’s what he has to do. Maybe what seems funny at first – talking to a machine about your emotional state – really is helpful. Maybe just getting people into the habit of talking about what’s bothering them allows them to process more effectively. Someday, guys. Someday.
There really isn’t anyone else in it. Donald Sutherland has a small role, and Tommy Lee Jones plays the father, but only for a hot second. They’re both pros, but like I said, this is mostly about watching Brad Pitt’s still beautiful face as he internalizes and kicks ass.
Directed by James Grey who did 2016’s The Lost City of Z, Ad Astra was released in September of 2019 and made for $90M. Worldwide gross was $127M so it made a couple of bucks. I looked this up because I would like to see more of this kind of movie so it’s in my best interest that it be profitable. Hard to know what matters more, a disappointing $50M domestic gross, or a $127M international, but a bottom line is a bottom line, right?
Help me out and go watch it on HBO Now or Go or Max or whatever it’s called. I’m going to get started writing my version: Sede In Terra.
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