Gravity

FLIX!

Gravity began as surreal mellow moments with an underwash of scariness - they were working on a satellite in a spot where they were looking at the earth like it was on an IMAX movie screen. The three astronauts all seem to be enjoying themselves; one is goofing around tethered down by the shuttle, astronaut Matt Kowalski is clowning around in his little get-up which features mini retro rockets allowing him to buzz around little a nuisance house-fly (this is, after all his last mission before retirement), while astronaut Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is diligently trying to accomplish their assigned task. So that covers getting us through the opening credits, and then all hell breaks loose. There is a panicked message from Houston...."Abort, abort! A bunch of other satellites have broken up and the debris is heading your way!" Okay I put on quotation marks, and that is probably not a direct quote, but it was mighty close to that. And then, this thing goes crazy.

George Clooney plays the veteran leader of this expedition (Matt Kowalski) and seems to have all the experience and no-how. The above mentioned Ryan Stone is a novice with no other space experience. She does mention she's trained 6 months.

Without being too much of a spoiler, the other astronaut is sort of, well, killed when the debris comes crashing in. I mean that is if having your face shield broken out, half your face gone, and your brains sucked out will kill you. Now there are two of them that have to figure out how to get back to Earth. Without being even more of a spoiler, this ain't a buddy picture. And here's another clue for you all: this was one of George Clooney's shortest film appearances. And the walrus was Paul. (Refer to the Beatles' White Album if your less than 40 years old and don't get that last reference about Paul).

This movie was 3 minutes of semi-calm highlighted by 90 minutes of sheer, intense, butt-cheek tightening, throat tightening suspense and terror. Okay, we got about two minutes of false relief at the end of the second act to catch our breath.

I liked this movie a lot. I thought Sandra Bullock was extraordinary - she is one of the stars that doesn't get the credit she deserves. She can do it all. Comedy, drama, and intense stuff. I hope she gets an Oscar nod for this one. Her intensity and delivery were interesting, thoughtful, and believable.

Great cinema? Nope. Great movie-making? Yep. The special effects were wonderful, convincing, and not contrived. Although brighter minds than mine will have to explain bits of fire floating around. And what retro rockets exhaust pushes against. Did this movie keep me interested and engaged? You bet. Did it seem like the hour and a half flew by? Yes indeed. This movie was interesting that way. My bride commented, "boy, that was a short movie", but then when we checked the running time, it was the same length as other movies.

I recommend this movie. And it works for the whole family. That is if you want your under 12 year olds to have bad dreams and need therapy well into their 20s....

See it. It does what movies are supposed to do. What you pay to see them for.....you'll be entertained, intrigued, and thinking about it for days.

Grade: B+