Director: Alfonso Curaon
Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ out of 4 Stars
Cinematically, this was one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen. For a very long time within the recent genre of horror and science fiction, very few films have forced me to remember how to breathe and not to become too withdrawn into the film's atmosphere. Sci-fi thrillers like Ridley Scott's Alien & Aliens have held strong at some of the top key spots.
Earth and space are the very gorgeous co-stars of Gravity. As beautiful and serene as our home planet appears in the opening shot of the film, the atmosphere is disturbingly quiet and distorting. It is by chance or damn fine luck that we live here.
Out of the very far distance space shuttle Explorer slowly floats our way. Its inhabitants include a bio-engineer and first time astronaut Ryan Strong (Sandra Bullock) and veteran Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), who is on his final expedition.
We don't see very much until they come into full view. Kowalski is boosting himself around the shuttle on a thruster, relaxed and as content as a lamb. He is communicating humorously to Mission Control in Houston, Texas with tales of how he discover his wife had been cheating on him and a very bizarre vacation to New Orleands during Mardi Gras week. He is completely free.
On the other hand, Strong is very tightly secured to Explorer hard at work. She's nervous, anxiety-ridden, and struggling to focus. She is not exactly lost in mental concentration but in her spirit, hope, having something or someone completely ground in living and breathing for.
In an instant, a whirlwind of debri skyrockets around them. There's barely time to think or breathe. Strong cannot release herself from her pod until the very last second, and then she's entirely on her own spinning in space with no end in sight.
Very luckily, Kowlaski manages to locate Strong, attach her to his uniform and guide her back to their Plan A. Together he navigates them both to their shuttle to see about other possible survivors and what their next game move is.
Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, I'm not sure it gets better than them. I recall a time when Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr were rumored as the final cast, and when people laughed off the idea of watching Bullock and Clooney in space for two hours.
Now as the evidence has proven by the films' praise, don't count out what might not look good on paper. Bullock emotionally strikes a chord as Ryan Strong, a small-town woman who is completely out of her element. And, though in a lesser recognized spotlight Clooney should not be ignored. Known for his public image of charm and chillaxed disposition, Clooney is a comforting partner to Bullock, often a way to bring you back from the brink of their struggle.
Two years of waiting for this movie release, I was not disappointed by any means. When I walked out of the theater, I couldn't help but look around me and above with an entirely new appreciation for the ground, the friends and family in my life, and the endless scope of life.
In director Alfonso Cuaron's films you are rarely a simple spectator along the ride of a good story or actors you know so well. Cinematically with Gravity you are trapped in another plane of claustrophobia, an examination of life and letting go, and freedom. Visually, Cuaron delivers a dizzy spectacle of the senses where the acting, atmosphere, soundtrack, and spirit are all participating in a calculated beautiful dance.
Throughout the entire film, as Strong surrenders to her circumstances, pushes the fight to never give up, and spinning through space desperately trying to reach home, you are right beside her. Death is unpredictable, pain is inevitable, so let loose of the reigns. Together, we are navigating this terrifying form of detachment, weightlessness, and nothing but everything weighing us down. Life never stops coming at us, so why not peacefully and with acceptance, let go.