I love Christopher Nolan films. He generally produces a story that's engaging, intriguing, and thought-provoking. Interstellar, his latest offering, is no different. In this film, something has happened (we're never told exactly what) that is rendering Earth increasingly uninhabitable- crops are dying, weather patterns changing, and life is vastly different than we know today. The only hope isn't to save the world- it's to leave it. A wormhole has opened near Saturn, through which a dozen explorers left years ago to look for new worlds. NASA sends a team to see if one of them really did find a new home. With the team are thousands of fertilized eggs- a Plan B for humanity's survival, in case Plan A (relocating survivors still on Earth) becomes impossible. Will they succeed? And at what cost?
I was pleased with this movie, but not as pleased as I generally am with Nolan's films. The plot was interesting, certainly, and mind-bending (as is the norm); the scenery was impressive and the acting good. There were a few problems that made it fall short of stellar, though, for me:
- even though the film clocks in at almost 3 hours, certain plot points seemed rushed or underdeveloped
- a key realization reached by a main character seemed to come out of the blue, as thought it was just a lucky guess
- the overall message of the film was confusing. It looked at survival, truth, deception, selfishness, sacrifice, and every combination thereof. This was very interesting, but I came away feeling there was not an overall (or clear) point. Was the movie advocating one at the expense of all others? It wasn't clear to me.
In the end, it's certainly worth viewing the film. I'm still thinking about it- a sign of quality work- but rather thinking about the message, I'm more trying to figure out what the message was.
Rating: B+
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