AD ASTRA FAILS TO TAKE OFF

The best thing about AD ASTRA-a better Brad Pitt

The latest big-budget SF film AD ASTRA, in theaters now, is a perfect reflection of our dismal times. Technically stunning, but scientifically brainless. Introspective, but emotionally distant. Epic in scope, but ultimately self-absorbed and restricted in vision. The plaintive cry of the Millennial generation to its elders, “You failed and left us nothing!” can be heard echoing in the sterile ships and stations that serve as settings of the film. In that sense, I suppose, James Gray’s (LOST CITY OF Z) slow-paced SF thriller can be said to be a great piece of cinematic art, well matched to its time and audience.

But for those of us brought up on the optimism and adventure of STAR TREK and the original STAR WARS, on the bright triumph of AVATAR or even the gritty determination of GRAVITY, this film is a bitter pill to swallow. Granted, it looks beautiful. All those shots of space vehicles against the backdrop of deepest night! And the idea that, one day in the near future, commercial flights to a permanent base on the moon will be common and relatively cheap! Sure, okay, we’re all right there with you!

But when you tell me leaking antimatter from a ship sent out thirty years ago has caused a chain reaction that is now threatening the Earth from Jupiter, you lose me. (Even worse, there are almost no effects of this phenomenon between Earth and Jupiter. Just at Earth, then around Jupiter. Right.) Um, I’m no scientist, but from what I know of physics, if antimatter and matter come into contact, the reaction is instant—BOOM! Once the antimatter is used up in the explosion, the problem is solved.

Yet this is the supposed reason our hero—astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt)—must head out to Jupiter to convince his father—missing astronaut/scientist Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones)—to return to Earth. The older McBride was the leader of a mission to the outer planets in order to survey planets in other star systems for extraterrestrial life. Turns out, he went off the deep end when that search yielded plenty of Goldilocks planets, but no life. Without hope, he went insane, killed the other members of his team, and is now hiding from the rest of humanity. His son’s secret mission is to eliminate the old man and his leaking ship, preserving his image as a hero (and, presumably, the false hope of other life in the universe).

Of course, the younger McBride must go through various stages of denial and disillusionment about the father he had always seen as a hero before he can accomplish his mission. Because this is not really a movie about outer space; it’s a film about inner space—fathers and sons, connection and emotional distance, finding yourself, etc., etc. Roy has always stood outside himself, analyzing his own emotions (as he does for Space Command on a regular basis for his psych evaluations), and has never been able to sustain a relationship with another person (which we see in flashback videos from his ex-wife).

If all of this sounds quiet and slow, it is. In terms of pacing, it reminds me of Stephen Soderbergh’s SOLARIS (2002), without benefit of George Clooney, sex, or the possibility of an extraterrestrial intelligence. Gray had to throw in some completely random moon pirate (yes, pirates on the moon) and wild-eyed bloody monkey (don’t ask) scenes to spice things up. I mean, I get that things can go wrong on a spaceship, but, as a writer, I recognized these “action” scenes for what they were. I could just hear the producers in a dark room somewhere saying, “For god’s sake, this is deadly! Can’t you throw in some moon pirates or something?”

On the positive side, Brad Pitt does a much better job of making Roy McBride an interesting character than Ryan Gosling did with Neil Armstrong in FIRST MAN (2018). Both characters are meant to be ice-cool under fire. Both, in fact, have a reputation for it. (In Armstrong’s case, the reputation was real.) But Gosling’s portrayal left me feeling there was nothing behind the mask. Pitt eventually shows the emotion, even if it is restrained. The actor has grown since his pretty-boy days, something he’s demonstrated with both this film and Quentin Tarentino’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD this year. Bravo, at least, for that. 

Unfortunately, the considerable talents of veteran actor Donald Sutherland and the versatile Ruth Negga are wasted in underwritten roles. And we see so little of Tommy Lee Jones as Clifford McBride anyone could have played him. 

As for AD ASTRA (to the stars)? Not with the attitude of this film. Save your money and watch it at home. This one’s a No Go. 

Cheers, Donna