Runtime: 123 minutes
Directed by: James Gray
Starring: Brad Pitt, Tommy
Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland, Kimberly Elise
From: Many production
companies
I understand those who are not... over the moon for Ad Astra.
Hearing that there were reshoots and the release date being pushed back several times did give me pause but this movie still seemed interesting so after hearing the high critical praise, yesterday I went and saw this on an IMAX screen, the best way to experience a movie with such gorgeous visuals throughout. Considering this is not a space adventure but instead is a personal story involving a son who has issues with his dad abandoning him and his attempt to deal with his own flaws... I am not surprised the general public is not as enamored with this as critics and film fans.
By now I am sure that everyone knows this is the story of how astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) has to go to the depths of the solar system to land on a ship piloted by his legendary father Clifford (Tommy Lee Jones) after he is feared to be gone mad and doing things that literally threaten the entire solar system... so I won't dwell on the plot and plus, I don't want to spoil anything. “Slow” and “boring” are common refrains against this movie that I have even seen here on Letterboxd; personally, I was always invested in the story and did not mind its methodical pace. It definitely helped that the film always looked great and it had a tremendous ethereal score from Max Richter.
Another big asset was that the cast did a swell job overall, especially Pitt and Jones. The former had to be pretty subdued due to Roy being a low-key and calm character in general, yet expressed a variety of emotions throughout and remained an interesting character despite an action or two he did in his obsessive quest to reunite with his dad after all those years. Part of that is that we frequently hear voice-over from Roy and some have balked at that inclusion. To me it was not an issue as it helped characterize what was a reserved character and plus, it's not like Blade Runner as unlike with that movie, Brad was not only one step above comatose because of NOT wanting to do any narration.
Happily, I thought this was a rewarding journey which explored various mature themes and is mostly low-key, with some exciting moments... including one that caught me off-guard as I was not expecting it. Even if it was not the box office hit that some were expecting, it does make me want to see Gray's other movies... yes, this was my first one, shame on me.
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