Christopher Nolan has proven himself to be a bankable name in Hollywood, reinventing the Batman franchise with THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY, and turning in imaginatively layered films like MEMENTO and INCEPTION. His latest is INTERSTELLAR, which explores the idea of deep space travel in an effort to save a dying Earth. In many ways it may also be the most ambitious project he’s ever attempted.

The story opens showing a series of taped interviews with people explaining how life on Earth went bad. Dangerously giant dust storms would pop up without warning, sweeping over entire cities, and dirt would hang in the air both inside and outside homes. Crops were dying and life was looking bleak. We meet Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a widowed farmer living at home with his father-in-law Donald (John Lithgow), his son Tom (Timothée Chalamet) and daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy). Murph believes her room is haunted, as books come falling off the shelves on their own, and she even attempts finding a message in all of it. Cooper is more concerned with finding ways to survive, like chasing down an unmanned drone for its power cell. After a giant dust storm hits, Cooper and Murph find a message in the “haunted” room they believe to be coordinates. They travel together and discover a hidden base, though the inhabitants genuinely want to know how they found it. In there Cooper meets up with an old scientist friend Professor Brand (Michael Caine) and his daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway), who reveal to him they’re putting together a mission to travel through a wormhole in space in an effort to find inhabitable worlds outside of our solar system. They’ve already sent a team through, and signals are being transmitted back, so they know somewhere out there is a possible solution. Brand asks Cooper to lead the mission, but it means saying goodbye to his family, possibly forever. Accompanied by a talking robot, Amelia and two other astronauts, Cooper ventures into unknown space in the hopes of saving our world.

At almost three hours, INTERSTELLAR never quite wears out its welcome, thanks mostly to the breathtaking space scenes and exotic settings. Nolan knows how to stage the most boring scenes into something that will be fascinating for the viewer. It does however walk a fine line between being overly-complicated and insultingly dumbed down. There are some scenes (like quick visuals of water-filled hibernation chambers) that could have benefited from just a tad of elaboration on their mechanics, and other scenes (like a wormhole explanation from one astronaut to another using a piece of paper) that felt like an idiot’s guide to space travel. The entire idea of INTERSTELLAR is inherently complex as a concept, so some of these flaws are to be expected, but the overall spectacle is pretty dazzling. What’s also interesting is how the movie juggles the ideas of the supernatural, alien intelligence, and even spirituality, keeping the audience guessing as to where all this is headed.

All of the space scenes are phenomenal and well executed, reminiscent of great Sci-Fi epics like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, but unlike that film this utilizes a more human element with the scenes back on Earth. It also finds some strong emotional beats multiple times. Nolan has always excelled in tugging at the audience heartstrings in his films, sometimes unexpectedly. Simple scenes like a father watching a long distance message from his family can be heartbreaking here, effectively so.

Matthew McConaughey is solid as the put upon father and pilot, tasked with the unthinkable. It’s a more subtle performance than one might expect, but it works for the story. Jessica Chastain, who doesn’t show up until about halfway through the film, is the more lively character here. She must deal with the despair of losing someone close to her, finding her purpose in life through it all, and Chastain handles these kinds of characters with perfection. Casey Affleck is also good although used sparingly as the older version of Tom, who eventually takes over the family household. Michael Caine’s role is brief and primarily used for exposition, though it’s always nice to see an actor with his gravitas even in the smallest role. Anne Hathaway plays his daughter as a cold and disconnected scientific type, who eventually reveals there’s more to her than what’s on the surface. Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart do a great job voicing the mission robots TARS and CASE, which are simplistic in design but visually imaginative when you least expect it. Actors like John Lithgow, Wes Bentley and David Oyelowo are welcome face in this ensemble, but sadly aren’t given much to do, though in a big story like this it’s inevitable some characters will suffer in the editing process. Also look for a big star in an extended cameo, one that will definitely have people talking after the fact.

Hans Zimmer turns in a powerful score which compliments the film nicely, and actually doesn’t sound like a typical Zimmer composition. The only downside is, like other recent Nolan efforts, there are times when the music overpowers the dialogue. In fact the sound mix for the movie is flawed in multiple spots, making it hard to understand what people are saying even in key moments, so if you think your theater got it wrong chances are it’s just the way the film was finished.

In the end the good of INTERSTELLAR outweighs the bad, and the end result is a giant Sci-Fi spectacle that will wow audiences. The question of how people will look at it upon leaving the theater is the bigger concern, as the ending (which I wasn’t crazy about) will likely be the most divisive aspect of the film. This is a movie that’s accessible to audiences, but will likely be polarizing as well, though it’s also the kind of cinema that will encourage long discussions and various theories. I found it reminded me more of CONTACT than anything else, even following some of the same story elements – coincidental, I suppose, that McConaughey stars in both. I would definitely recommend seeing it in IMAX, or if your city has it in 70mm, as it’s one of the most impressive and visceral cinematic experiences of the year.

Our friends at the Texas Theatre (who are currently running a fundraiser to upgrade the old girl with a DCP-capable projector – check out the details here) are one of the few film houses in the country who will be showing INTERSTELLAR in 35mm, two days ahead of the release date on Wednesday, November 5. Keep an eye out at The Texas Theatre’s web site for ticket on-sale info.

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