Intersteller (2014)
Writers: Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan
Cast: Matthew McConaughey (Cooper), Ellen Burstyn (Murph)-Older, Mackenzie Foy (Murph)-10Yrs, John Lithgow (Donald), Timothee Chalamet (Tom), David Oyelowo (School Principal), Collette Wolf (Ms. Hanley), Francis X. McCarthy (Boots), Bill Irwin (Tars)-Voice, Anne Hathaway (Brand), Andrew Borba (Smith), Wes Bentley (Doyle), William Devane (Williams), Michael Caine (Professor Brand), David Gyasi (Romilly), Josh Stewart (Case)-Voice, Casey Affleck (Tom), Leah Cairns (Lois), Jessica Chastain (Murph), Liam Dickinson (Coop), Topher grace (Getty), and Matt Damon as Mann.
The film starts off with elderly people being interviewed on TV monitors, they describe a time where living was very hard. Having a computer was a luxury, cars are no longer made, technology as a whole has become a past experience. The climate would be riddled with dust storms, people had to wear masks to protect themselves from the dust storms, these storms occurred everywhere in the states, it was the masks that served some protection but in the end the dust would eventually break down the human respiratory system, and death was eminent. Space travel was no longer funded by the government, leaving behind all the advancements, and technology, farming was the hope, but even then the climate dramatic dust storms would kill any hope, humanity had.
Somewhere in Eastern Colorado, a farmer/widower named Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) he is college educated and a former test pilot for NASA, he had to give up his occupation and settle for farming, because of the government funding situation. Family, and figuring out what to do next is the only hope he can cling to, making sure his kids grow to become something better, than what has transpired present day.
Cooper's family consist of Donald (John Lithgow), his 60 year old father in law, his 15 year old son Tom (Timothee Chalamet), and his 10 year old daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy). Cooper keeps the farm going, helps his neighbors, with fixing, upgrading equipment for better performance. The world is hard, when dust storms hit, many crops are damaged, farming halts, making it difficult to continue valuable production.
A drone fly's low, Cooper (McConaughey) has to drop off his kids at school, for conferences, but his obscure curiosity stays with the drone, while Tom (Timothee Chalamet) drives; Cooper controls the drone, on his lab-top, by landing it, strapping it to his truck, eventually studying it. He continues, ignores the flat tire and drives, still continuing forward, he is determined to bring his children to school, even though he is late for the teacher conference.
Murph (Mackenzie Foy) tells her father that her book shelf, certain books fall out, and drop to the floor. Cooper tells his daughter that there is a plausible explanation for the occurrence, never call it a ghost, investigate, find the solution, explain why? it happened then figure out answers. Later the window in her room wasn't closed, and after a dust storm, some of the dust particles landed on the ground, form a straight line, Cooper seems to think it's coordinates to a location, so he loads his truck, and heads toward the calculations he had made earlier. "Gravity" not a ghost, but some form of location.
Driving to the Rockies, Cooper finds Murph hiding, a stowaway, but he continues laughs it off, his daughters curiosity will someday serve her well. A hidden bunker, a futuristic robot, a revelation that brings Cooper to question his life on Earth. NASA has a hidden bunker away from the population, but yet those coordinates he figured out, by the dust settling on the ground, managed to bring him here.
Rant: The beginning of the film is pretty brutal, you get a glimpse at humanity and the difficult life on Earth. Crops are taking a hit, folks wear face masks during a dust storm, which occurs frequently. On top of that, technology is pretty much gone, unless you're wealthy or managed to get a hold of it, the desperate way of life is the Earth in the future, many, many years into the future, in fact about 2055 to be exact. Cooper and his family struggle to keep the crops going, love the scenes with the family and there daily duties, a real example of life, the actors did a wonderful job keeping those scenes tight, made a difference, it was not only noticed, it was explained through actions which was done to perfection. An example of this would be the way they turned over their plates, glasses, cups, a way of dealing with the dust storms. Some films just explain it, but this one, was portrayed well.
A plan to save the people of Earth, plan A is the bunker, it serves as a centrifuge, a space station, getting the people of Earth off safely. Plan B is to colonize the most habitable of the three planets. The problem is the the good Dr. Brand had lied about plan A, and really wanted "B" to work. The equation he was working so hard on, was really only work, if he could've solved it, his deep hidden agenda about plan B would've never been known. But, thanks to Matt Damon's character i really hated, Mann. Things went from bad to worse, and then plan A was drifting from their reach. Mann knew of the colonization, he must get everything processed, before Cooper alters his plans. The sad thing was, Dr. Brand's daughter Amelia didn't even know of her father's decisions. Now a group of astronauts were stuck on a planet, with a mad man, Mann. Even though Cooper survived the altercation, he still needed an explanation, which he got from his daughter, Murph (Older). The information hit him hard, but at least he knows what to do, enter the black hole and hope it takes you back. That was the best scene of the film, his desire to leap without looking down, a leap of faith.
The film's core is about another dimension, how ghosts are explained, that super natural phenomenon we think are ghosts, but really is another dimension. Maybe the ghost thing is a bit much, but how else do you explain it. Murph as a little girl saw books being pushed from her shelf. Later, we find Cooper was the one that pushed those books out, he wanted to communicate with his daughter, he was in another dimension. Pretty deep for a film that is about 2hr 50min long, either way the film had you from the beginning all the way till the end. The bases for time-travel, entering another realm. The balance between life and death, altering your decisions before you make them. What if? the realm was yours by the actions you take, alter the steps taken in your life by changing the main decision you've made in the beginning. Nolan picked a great plot, and twisted, turned the film the way it came to be towards the end, wow! wonderful writing, imagination, perceptions going beyond the human focal point, what an out of the box film.
Christopher Nolan films are well written, very good dialog, his films manages to make you think, because the topic of this film, Interstellar brings you in from the start, it's deep plot sequences takes you for a costar ride. The science behind it, another dimension, all the stuff can be boring, but if you're a geek like myself, this film was a dream come true. The scene with Cooper trying to get his daughter to notice, was incredible, it was as if you were in a car going 100 MPH in a 30 zone filled with large obstacles that are to big not to hit, but yet you barely avoid them, all that really does is make you cringe. From start to finish, i either hated some scenes, or loved them. That my friends is a huge sign of wonderful film making, my wife even cringed at those particular moments you loved to hate. All the Matt Damon scenes, my wife disliked. Mann was a great antagonist, he was the guy who knew the dangers of the mission, but must go beyond human emotions, and admit that the Earth was dead, so the hope is the planet, or planets that must start humanity from zero, begin a new life, a heaven, a new Earth. Mann was the extreme, he was needed to because Dr. Brand knew Cooper had limits.
The story, all the actors, were superb, it was excellent from the beginning to the end. Do i recommend this film, yes. Will i watch this film many times over like Star Wars, no. Why? because it's not Star Wars, and as much as i love this film, watching it over and over will only anger me because of the content. And the one character i loved to hate, Mann. This film as a whole is wonderful, it may not be Star wars but, it's a story that takes to a different place. Are there other dimensions? will there be loved ones in those other realms? Can i alter my path, by going back to the start, warn myself before the final act is done. Themes that only the Nolan brothers can tackle with perfection. This film is an out of the box movie, and a great Sci-Fi adventure, if your into these types of films, then i highly recommend it. The content will make you think, a great way to dive into a very different place, a dimension in your own mind, dive right into the world of Interstellar.
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