A rumination on familial bonds that spans the solar system. A mood piece, the what-are-we-doing-now kind.
Set in the near future when the moon is colonized but with territorial disputes, asteroids are mined and laser tech allows for instantaneous cosmic communication, Brad Pitt plays US astronaut Roy McBride (namesake!) who launches into space to save his rogue-scientist/astronaut of a father, Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones.)
Surprised that it felt personal. Introspective. It forces the viewer to ask what Roy’s voiceover is asking (sometimes the hard sci-fi questions, sometimes the deeply personal daddy issues.)
The film is a personal and spiritual journey for Roy, who, much like the expression Per aspera ad astra (Latin for through hardships, to the stars – attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca) has to go through a wringer physically and mentally to endure the demands of extended space travel, and emotionally to wrestle with unprocessed daddy issues before peace can settle in him.
The film may also be a struggle to watch for its viewers, who may have been misled by clever marketing for an action-packed space adventure, but instead find two hours of a person processing his things. It didn’t really feel that long, but at times it did feel that it had a few minutes too many.
This isn’t First Man nor Event Horizon. Its science is shady – Gravity will laugh at its physics.
Thematically, if Tarkovski said Solaris was his answer to Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ad Astra is six degrees their common relative, the kind that neither would own (but hey, it’s there.) Then again, I’m willing to watch this over and over together with those two. Interstellar also comes into mind, but the first two are the film’s obvious aspirations.
Contemplative. As in, Brad Pitt contemplates, and contemplates well. The acting is sparse and muted, like the cinematography and music. Just enough to be beautiful, never calling attention to themselves. And I contemplate if Pitt’s acting is enough for awards nomination/s. Maybe not, but it’s worth the try.
Ad Astra is soars gloriously most of the time, except the final moments when it needed cross threshold of denouement the way Hollywood tends to finish films that breach a certain production level.
Ad Astra aspires for the heavens which it reaches almost, but not quite.
Trailer here: https://youtu.be/nxi6rtBtBM0
Ad Astra
Directed by James Gray
Rated PG
acid reflects 
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