Amazing moments made me fall for Gravity

Paul Peterson

So, I was watching the first digital projector in the Peterson empire. Yes, we are slowly coming into this century – kicking and screaming and begging for spare change – but it’s happening.
So we fired up Gravity, the new film from Sandra Bullock, George Clooney and Ed Harris.  In theory, we were just going to run about 10 minutes of the film to make sure all the little gimmicky things were working and 96 minutes later, I was still amazed at what I was watching.
It’s a simple story from an unlikely source.

Written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron, who for me is best known for Y Tu Mama Tambien, which was smoking hot and well, never mind. It was just really good. He also directed one of the darker Harry Potters’ and Children of Men which was actually a fascinating piece of filmmaking. I like little stories set within huge landscapes. (I should go back and see if I reviewed that film and make sure I didn’t call it slow and plodding). But I digress.

Turns out Alfonso wanted to be a director and an astronaut back when he wa s a young lad in Mexico but he didn’t want to join the army so that dream crashed. Does Mexico have a space program? I mean that might be a good story a la Cool Running, but I digress even more.

Gravity is a simple story about being lost in space and trying your best to sort it out. There is no better voice of mission control than Ed Harris.
Watch Apollo 13 and then argue with me. When he falls into the chair, it’s another amazing Harris moment. Yes I’m a big fan.

Uh oh spoiler alert:
We start with three people working on the space station and we know that other guy is a goner. He’s like the unnamed henchman. Something goes astray and it’s raining space junk and satellites and George and Sandra are scrambling for cover, minus the mystery guy. We lose George early in. I think that’s the surprise here because he is a bit of a star.

But the story is about how this little lady scientist pulls off a lot of very cool survival moments but really, this movie is about the visuals.
It’s amazing.
There are certainly elements of Apollo 13 here. That struggle to make the best of what’s available under seemingly impossible conditions. She has moments of giving into despair which adds a great element of realism to it.
It’s  tense and fascinating and I have something to say to all the scientists and techno wannabes who have argued  that the science in this movie is not right.
Who cares?

In space no one can hear you scream and in your mom’s rec room no one can see you eat the cheese doodle that just fell on your cardigan.
I also know a dude can’t fly but I still like Superman.
There are some truly amazing moments – little things.
Like when the Chinese space station has a fire and Bullock shoots off the fire extinguisher and gets knocked out by the backward thrust. Or how the fire chases her in this surreal floating way that of course is CGI but again, who cares.
I got lost in this film and that, by the way, is exactly what I’m looking for in a movie. Just entertain me for awhile.
I can forgive the story lines and the lapses in stuff I don’t care about because there’s this constant visual of the earth floating around just outside that little portal and man oh man is that ever good.

Oh another spoiler alert:
Not saying how it ends, but after all of what she goes through, at the end all I could think was, man, I bet there’s a lot of snakes there. Not sure, I wouldn’t prefer the watery death.
But I’m odd.

Gravity is a really entertaining film and I strongly recommend it to any one who hasn’t lined up overnight to buy Star Wars tickets.
As always, other opinions are welcome, but wrong. That’s it for this week. The cheque’s in the mail and I’m outta here. Paul