Once Upon A Time In...Outer Space.
124 Mins. Starring: Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler, Ruth Negga, John Ortiz, Donald Sutherland & Tommy Lee Jones. Director: James Gray.
Out of this world is a whole universe away from just another space movie cliché in a solar systems worth of them for this NASA t-shirt wearing trend when it comes to James Gray's latest piece with Hollywood superstar of Hollywood superstars Brad Pitt. Who couldn't be bigger than he is right now, just when you thought the 'Se7en', '12 Monkeys' and 'Oceans Eleven' actor was the most famous face and name there is. After a decade of Plan B production (also helming this ship here), from ones he acted in ('12 Years A Slave'), to ones he watched from a distance ('Moonlight') diverted from the stream of his acting career, save award ('Moneyball') and blockbuster standouts ('World War Z'), Brad is back in a B.I.G. way. Not just this year, but this damn month. Sharing the star shine with the other biggest name behind the face in the game, Leonardo DiCaprio with Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood'. And now going it all alone lost in space searching for a man in black...and we aren't talking about walking the line with Johnny Cash. Going 'Interstellar' like McConaughey and Matt Damon with a brief Mars 'Martian' like interlude of sobering solitude like the 'Solaris' of George Clooney, all under subtle Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in 'First Man' stoicism with 'Blade Runner 2049' like emotional by-line test. Put this poetic performance piece next to the greats of space travel from the grounding 'Gravity' of Sandra Bullock to the groundbreaking Kubrick classic '2001: A Space Odyssey'. All whilst taking cues from those type of out of this realm, intergalactic inspirations like 'Arrival' or even the soil to the heavens fever dream and cinematic art of Brad Pitt's 'Tree Of Life' with Terrence Malik and 'The Martian' and 'Interstellar' star Jessica Chastain on a breakout. All this and some cell classic structures for cinemas canon from 'We Own The Night' and 'Lost City Of Z' director James Gray again on the look for something much deeper than the surface story. Something as cinematography compelling as it is "no one in space can hear you scream", silently slow burning. So much so that even Korean subtitles in a Seoul cinema for this travelling writer couldn't distract from the vivid visuals, which themselves can't take away from what this testimony to motion picture is really telling us (who thought away from family it wouldn't just be Thor saying goodbye to his Rene Russo mother in a plane re-watch of 'Endgame' that would have me like a broken satellite in bits?). Listen to the sparse sounds and see the sun in this dense moon dust desert for the senses.
Profound. Poetic. Moving. Meditative. Cerebral. Classic. Epic. Enthralling. This is everything. Everything in the known universe and everything that comes to the heart of matters and what's really inside as we look to the stars. And that is 'Ad Astra'. A father and son story like Cat Stevens masquerading as something for the 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' crowd, finally getting Pitt back in the picture after years of being behind the camera or in shockingly hilarious 'Deadpool' cameos too. But never to vanish truly from the spotlight. The GQ Hollywood star who has been sculpting and listening to Bon Iver in his spare time, overcoming personal problems has crafted a classic here all the way down to the off the Max Richter score that could string rival the 'Interstellar' inspirations of even the great Hans Zimmer. 'Astra' might reach the ends of the earth and beyond that infinity. But it's main concern is how much harder it is to get in touching distance to those who are meant to be the closest to us. And the universe's worth of gulf that acts as the space between. It doesn't matter how far we go out this world...if we can't hit home. And with beautiful and powerful restraint, Pitt is perfect at personifying this with sincere subtlety. 'Once Upon A Time' may be his star show support, but 'Ad' as it stands is his deepest and best cut. As these two make for even a legend like Brad Pitt's greatest year of all time like when co-star Leonardo DiCaprio acted in 'Inception' and 'Shutter Island' in like this the same Summer, let alone the same year once upon a time...in Hollywood. This also shows like fellow films 'The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford' and 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' that are more than meets the aesthetic eye that he is more than a name with all the tools as an artist. The quiet storm that is brewing here like a meteor shower glows with simmering emotion and always looks primed to strike no matter how calm it floats along. Someone who Hollywood press revered for his looks can do more with a few facial expressions here than he could in days of Q.T. dialogue. And both methods have so much meaning here this month. His nuanced demeanour even in the harsh wilderness of space in this reality is anything but cold in this calculated classic.
Blasting moon buggies, an IMAX free fall off the edge of your seat and Galactus tall space station, back down to the atmosphere of your own earth and something even more scarier than an alien attack, Gray's deep, black sea of space is anything but calm in this coolly moving meditation of 'Odyssey' outreach, bathed in a Mars red glow. All this and a class cast makes this Gray's greatest shade. Even if some of the biggest names are given less of a stage when it comes to the main spotlight in this epic event. But oh how these stars still shine. Like the best facetime acting we've seen since McConaughey and Chastain's Nolan 'Interstellar' iPhone like acting in 'Armageddon', Aerosmith rocking star Liv Tyler's bold and beautiful return to what she's best at. Evoking even more emotion, even when there are demands on screen time. This is the one actor from Marvel's 'The Incredible Hulk' movie who knew how to capture the soul of the symbolic seventies show. And how about even more heart from 'Loving', Academy Award nominated Ruth Negga? The 'Preacher' star punctuating the third act of this legacy making, layered narrative. Always dependable character actor John Ortiz is counted on for another small, but significant role. As is legendary great Donald Sutherland. So good to see like he was a J. P. Getty in the 'Trust' series. But trust the legend of legends here making his grand return is 'The Fugitive' great Tommy Lee Jones. On top of his game when Brad was really making his name. Now together it's another classic collaboration in the month of Leo for Brad which you would have wished for once upon a star for a time in Hollywood. Waiting longer to meet him for more than a video conference call than we did on that hot coffee between De Niro and Pacino it's worth it all in Oscar gold. As a gunning Tommy Lee hasn't been this great since a certain guitarist dated a 'Baywatch' star. Put this next to 'No Country For Old Men', 'In The Valley Of Elah', 'In The Electric Mist' and 'The Homesman' as this homecoming space cowboys best with a little Easter Egg for you...I guess Clint Eastwood gave up every which way but loose. But seriously 'The Hunted' grizzled and 'Lincoln' bearded this veteran is at his best yet...apart from the classic cheerleader comedy 'Man Of The House' (that I've been calling "Man About The House' for years now...but that's an Easter Egg in itself). One that blindsides us with its brilliance and it's brutality in how far a man in manifest will go for his destiny when his real one waits at home. An intergalactic cautionary tale if ever there was one. Because maybe after all in this universe we really are alone. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Further Filming: 'Interstellar', 'The Tree Of Life', '2001: A Space Odyssey'.
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