Film Review: Gravity

Courtesy, Warner Brothers Pictures

Did you ever wonder what it might be like for someone to become lost in space?  Well, “Gravity” might be the film for you. “Gravity” Director Alfonso Cuaron and his production team made an amazing film which makes the audience feel like you are in space from the beginning of this film. Sandra Bullock (as Medical Engineer Dr. Ryan Stone) creates the best performance of her career in what so far is the best film of 2013.  Her chemistry with George Clooney (playing Astronaut Matt Kowalski) is as good as any you’ve seen on the silver screen this past year.

“Gravity”  is not a sci-fi film, but is one that is a drama posing as an adventure film and film-goers are the richer for it.  During its running time, “Gravity”  transports audiences to as close to the sub-reaches of space that they are likely ever going to get.  The film opening scenes with Bullock dutifully repairing on the Hubble telescope, Clooney playfully trying to break the international space-walk record, one might feel as if they are in space with them.  The absolute joy that Clooney’s character displays while out on a space walk reminds you of the magic that once was our manned U.S. space program.  Seeing the Space Shuttle in action again was quite neat as well, especially in the astronaut’s interactions with “Mission Control.”  Many audience members will likely get a kick trying to figure out just who is the voice of “Mission Control.”

As Dr. Stone finishes her repair of the Hubble Telescope, a disaster unfolds which quickly changes the tone and storyline from wonder and joy to simply survival against the elements of space and the underside of our world’s growing multi-national presence there.  “Gravity” becomes a test about the never-ending battles of man (or woman) vs. nature (space) and man (woman) against herself.  Bullock spends much of the film in isolation as she must make her own way back home and deal with her conflicting emotions as she runs out of time.

Courtesy, Warner Brothers Pictures

Bullock carries this film and in ways that will surprise most people who have seen her work in the past.  This isn’t “Miss Congeniality” for sure.  Her character, Dr. Ryan Stone, must change from a solitary, quiet character accepting what comes to her into a woman who must make things happen for herself or else she’ll never get back home.  To increase the pressure on Stone (and the audience), time elements come into play as she has a limited amount of oxygen and power with which to make this journey home.  Technically, the graphic images in “Gravity”  are mesmerizing and are clearly an advancement in the field of filmmaking.  The movie’s sound effects and design are probably the best film-goers will have heard since “The Dark Knight.”  It is a safe bet that this is a film that will get more than a few Oscar nominations just for its technical achievements this coming January.  “Gravity” is such a technological marvel, the viewer doesn’t feel like they are watching computer-generated images.  They just look real.

Unlike Tom Hanks’ “Castaway,” one never loses the feeling of isolation here as the odds of survival for Ryan are much less favorable.  Plus, there is no Wilson The Volley Ball for her in outer space.

Courtesy, Warner Brothers Pictures

“Gravity”  is one of the most riveting, beautiful and yet basic films you’ll ever see.  Make sure to put it on your “see-list” sooner, not later.  Seeing “Gravity”  in IMAX is highly recommended, but not necessary.

4 Stars out of 4.

© 2013 The Willams View