MOVIE OF THE WEEK (10/4/13): GRAVITY
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney and Ed Harris
WRITER(S): Alfonso Cuarón and Jonas Cuarón
DIRECTOR(S): Alfonso Cuarón
WEB SITE: http://gravitymovie.warnerbros.com/
60 SECOND PLOT SYNOPSIS: Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a doctor from a small town in Illinois who is still trying to deal with the unexpected, accidental death of her young daughter. At present time, however, she is trying to fix a part of the rocket that has transported her and fellow astronauts Matt Kowalski and Shariff (Paul Sharma) into space. While Matt always seemingly has a bad feeling about a mission (and a funny story to go with it), he unknowingly is right about the one he has on what is to be his last spacewalk: A Russian missle has accidentally struck one of its satellites, causing a massive amount of debris hurtling throughout space.
And it's heading right for Ryan, Matt and Shariff. What ensues is a journey of personal discovery, resiliance and high drama miles above the earth, presented in eye-catching 3D.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST?: People who enjoy space travel, Sandra Bullock fans, people who enjoyed Alfonso Cuarón's previous works, fans of 3D movies where the 3D actually enhances the film instead of just costing them more money for a ticket, people who think they would enjoy - or be terrified by - space travel.
WHO WON'T LIKE THIS FILM?: People who like deabting the science of science fiction movies, people who get motion sickness easily ... And anyone who can't buy into the premise from the beginning.
BOTTOM LINE – IS IT GOOD, GREAT, BAD OR DOWNRIGHT AWFUL? It's actually pretty great - and one of the best 3D films to be released since Avatar made 3D all the rage again.
WHAT'S GOOD (OR BAD) ABOUT IT?: Gravity is not a long movie. What it is, though, is a visually marvelous movie that is a prime example of why what we enjoy most about going to movies and the power of a well-shot film.
First things first, Gravity is an awesome film that if you can see in IMAX, you would be foolish not to do so barring a predisposition to motion sickness. Director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) makes you feel like you are in your own space suit next to Bullock and Clooney throughout the film, which fully makes you embrace (and subsequently be thrilled and terrified by) all the drama unfolding on screen. From breathtaking action sequences that feel as if they are moving at the speed of light to beatiful sunrises across the earth's hemisphere, Gravity might do for interest in astronomy what Top Gun did for the Air Force in the 1980s. Then again, given the terror-inducing cinematics he produces during the film's most intense moments, Gravity could also do for space travel what Jaws did for beaches.
The film's cast, however, deserves its fair share of praise, Bullock in particular, for making the film's story as compelling as its visual effects. Bullock does a phenomenal job - perhaps her best work since her Academy Award-winning performance in The Blind Side - of making you feel every emotion her character endures from start to finish. There is no wasted motion in Bullock's performance and Clooney - doing what Clooney does - adds an effective punch to help guide and give depth to Bullock's character's evolution.
In a month typically reserved for creepy, crawling, bump-in-the-night firght-fests, Gravity proves itself to be a non-typical (in any fashion) film full of frights, scares and terrific tension that is scarily good from start to finish.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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