Interstellar (2014)
To me, Christopher Nolan's ambitious space-epic,
Interstellar, is a bit like The Goog - a signature dish from a great ice cream place in my hometown. What the hell is The Goog? Well, it is
a deluge of dessert delicacy - it is a gargantuan upside down blueberry shake, with a hot fudge sundae, and bananas, all topped with whipped cream. Yes... that obviously sounds incredible. And it does taste good for the most part... But in reality, every time I've ordered The Goog I've ended up receiving a horrible stomach ache about halfway through and ultimately unable to finish it. Sadly, the Goog just tries too hard; it's just too much 'good' for one thing.
Like The Goog, Interstellar tries its hand at being a little of bit something for everyone. It is a lengthy three hours and yet it still feels like its overflowing with plot points, tones and themes. The film should be commended for its high ambitions, and, most of the time, Nolan has been able to juggle such a plate full with his previous films. However, with Interstellar the end result is a film that simply bites off more than it can chew.
One of its primary issues is its abysmal pacing, where the allotment of time given to scenes and sequences is a detriment to the film's momentum and emotional pull. For one example, a huge amount of time - 45 minutes or so - is spent introducing the core family on Earth. Although, normally this wouldn't necessarily be an issue, the subsequent transition of Cooper (McConaughey's) recruitment to the space exploration team
and its departure from Earth happens in a total of about five minutes. This just feels off when watching - the ship and its mission is the primary point of the film, and yet it feels like an afterthought here or, simply, the filmmakers telling us that it is not that important as the family stuff. Generally, the film has this ongoing struggle where it attempts to be the action packed, forward-moving thriller like many of Nolan's previous while also being a modern call-out to Kubrick's
2001 (there are a number of clear references throughout the film) which is founded upon slow, methodical tension building. The awkward balance between these two tones greatly weakens the film's overall momentum and pacing. Latter sequences once in space seem to not be able to decide whether to commit to the fast or slow pacing styles and Nolan's decision for this seems to swap back and forth from scene-to-scene without any apparent justification.
There are a number of elements that do work in the film. All of the acting is commendable and, in fact, in many instances where the plot or pacing do not flow well, the performances (McConaughey, Hathaway and Chastain, in particular) serve to pull the audience back into the narrative. Much of the cinematography is also fantastic: the space exploration shots are nice to look at, the water planet (with the massive tidal waves), the crew walking across the ice planet, and the dust storms on Earth. I did, however, find the constant change in the aspect ratios quite noticeable and disconnecting as I watched it at my home.
Interstellar is worth seeing for those who like hefty philosophical science fiction or a fan of Christopher Nolan films. It can be fun trying to piece together all of the film's many parts or simply trying to suss out what exactly the Nolan brothers are trying to impart onto you through its onerous run time. You may find many parts or facets that you enjoy about Interstellar, but don't expect to be wholly satisfied at its eventual end.
7/10
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