When I got a call from a friend today asking if I wanted to go see Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, at first I was apprehensive. You see, as a kid, I loved space. I still do, in fact. I went through a (long) phase where I wanted to be an astronaut despite the math and science requirements being far, far beyond my reach, although today’s movie experience may have changed my mind! I have always been fascinated by the stars and planets and one would think Gravity, with its beautiful images of Earth from space visible even in the preview, would be my kind of movie.
What gave me pause, though, was how fast-moving and out-of-control the trailers made the film look. Would I get seasick? Would I panic? The first time I saw a preview I jumped and felt a little dizzy from the spinning. Could I sit through the entire hour and a half? I weighed my options and in the end decided to go, telling my friends that if I felt sick I’d step out of the theater.
I made the right decision.
Medical engineer Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are stranded in space after a freak accident takes out their shuttle. I don’t want to write too much of a summary and give anything away, but take this as you will: I’ve never been on the edge of my seat more during a movie where so little actually happened.
Bullock and Clooney deserve every bit of praise they’ve been given for their roles. The action unfolds in real time and in the 90 minutes (give or take) that we spend with the two characters we learn enough about them that the pathos of their situation is very real. For a story with only two characters who are ever seen on screen and only the briefest backstory about each I was drawn into every moment of the film both visually and emotionally. Outer space itself is nearly a character in its own right: unpredictable, violent and emotionless, our characters’ only obstacle, better than any movie villain I can think of. There are no sub-plots or romantic twists, just the desolate emptiness of space and a struggle for survival and oxygen. There are no cuts away to frantic NASA employees on Earth or family members or news reports. Only space. And yet at one point I realized I was gripping my (empty) popcorn bag so tightly my hand hurt.
The film’s score, composed by Steven Price (DisneyNature’s Earth, Meerkat: The Movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) added suspense and tension at exactly the right moments and the filmography, of course, was stunning. I almost don’t want to know how the film was made. It was stunning and entirely believable and I think knowing what tricks were used to put Clooney and Bullock into space would ruin the experience.
I am not usually one for IMAX or 3D. In fact, I’d rather see almost anything in regular ol’ 2D. This movie, though, was worth the extra two dollars added to the ticket price and worth wearing silly glasses for two hours. It was worth buying popcorn and overpriced soda. It was entirely worth it. I don’t usually rave about movies, but I’m raving about this one. Waiting until it’s on DVD would do it a disservice. Go see it on a big screen. See it in 3D.
