Interstellar - Film Review

Interstellar

Director: Christopher Nolan Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain  Genre: Sci-Fi

"Love is the one thing that transcends time and space"

This month sees the return of the big-budget, star-studded, epic action whore director Christopher Nolan (also known for the Batman films and Inception) with his new Sci-Fi Interstellar. With a cast that includes Matthew McConaughey fresh from receiving his Best Actor Oscar earlier this year and entering into an era of McConaissance, the ever reliable Anne Hathaway and the down right brilliant Jessica Chastain I had high hopes going into the movie theater.

I had no prior knowledge on what the film was about, only what the trailer and an appearance by McConaughey and Hathaway on the Graham Norton Show appeared to let on. In all fairness I still don't really know what the film is about. Alas, let that not retract from the fact Interstellar is a highly enjoyable -a very long (you get your money's worth) - but highly enjoyable epic adventure that allows you to venture into the lives of space travelling outcasts. In between fantastical establishing shots of spacecrafts, galaxies and 'new' planets, there is the heart-rendering message of fatherhood weaved throughout the film. 

It's the future and humanity is faced with the threat of dying out unless another planet, habitual by humans is found. Former NASA pilot Joseph Cooper (McConaughey) is recruited by Professor John Brand (Michael Caine - no surprise there) to join his daughter Amelia (Hathaway) and 2 others to pilot the spacecraft Endurance to find such a place. Although this may to some sound like a rather unoriginal and almost predictable plot - it's not. In typical Nolan-style, intelligence and complexity is applied to both character and story, intertwining the incomprehensible (for me) physics and variety of other sciences with the constant reminder of earth's peril and all the moral conflicts it brings with it. 

Hathaway and McConaughey look concerned as they watch
 fellow astronaut open a pot noodle during zero-gravity

The additional side-plot of Cooper's uneasy relationship with his daughter Murph (Chastain) adds the sentimental, instantly relatable themes of family and more prominently loyalty that often creeps into Nolan films.  Matt Damon and John Lithgow have smaller, yet just as memorable roles in the film. All the characters are fully rounded and are there to serve a specific purpose.

With an unexpected, well thought-out plot twist and sophisticated score by the legendary Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, Gladiator, Inception) this is the sort of film (as with all Christopher Nolan films) that makes you feel smarter by just simply watching it. 

There is no doubt in my mind that Interstellar will fit quite comfortably on the long list of 'Nolan Classics'.