Gravity review

              People have often wondered what defines the difference between a ‘movie’ and a ‘film’. Generally speaking, outside of an academic critical approach, I tend to ignore these distinctions, but nevertheless I understand the notion behind them. Popular movies that are made for the general masses are not intended to be art. So these days, when you do see something that fits more into the ‘film’ side of things, and in the next auditorium of the multiplex they’re showing a giant robot picture, it comes as both a shock and welcomed surprise, especially if the movie manages to trick the movie fans into enjoying a film.

                “Gravity”, a survival space epic directed by Alfonso Cuaron, does exactly that; it surprises, it engages and it reminds you that film is a visual medium, defined by its ability to tell a story using imagery. Like the sci-fi schlock next door it is a highly technical movie experience but unlike most of its IMAX 3D contemporaries it also has a beating heart and blood pumping through its veins. 

                While the narrative isn't built around an ever-unfolding plot, the beauty of this film is in its structural simplicity. Sandra Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a newbie astronaut who can barely keep her lunch down as she is being guided through her first mission in space,fixing an orbiting satellite. George Clooney plays Matt Kowalski, a NASA employee on the brink of his retirement, who listens to country music in his space-helmet while telling long-winded anecdotes. Matt's job is to keep Dr. Stone calm while finishing the mission, but just before their job is completed, some debris crashes into their work space, separating the two by miles of black nothingness. Stone then, with her limited training and experience, has to figure out a way to survive in space and communicate for rescue before she runs out of oxygen. 

                More science-faction than science-fiction, this simple story allows Cuaron to keep the focus on this film as an expressive experience. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki always activates the frame with many long single takes that slowly turns the camera in every direction, putting the audience in the same sense of weightless isolation as the characters, as we view the background details alter with time.  Cuaron meticulously manages his edits and he lets his set-pieces patiently accumulate and breath, building the tension into a heart racing palm-sweat, as every inch of movement becomes a life or death moment.  

                Amongst all of the beautiful, transportive imagery and the bravura film making, Sandra Bullock must also be praised for her ability to keep the audience emotionally connected with the human element of the plot, which is not an easy task in a film as technically concerned as this. Not only does she keep you caring, but this might just be her best on-screen performance yet.  While her dialogue is limited to half whispered prayers and cries of desperation, she brings the audience into her internal head-space, making you feel everything that she is going through, whether she strives for inner strength or resigns her self to failure. With all of that said, in some of the final scenes, the script does occasionally slip into some less-than-necessary speechifying that creates a brief but unfortunate distance from her fragile interiority.

                Not since Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” has a film been able to so exquisitely capture both the awe and terror of deep space exploration.  And not since...well…anything have I been so impressed by the way a director has utilized 3D technology that I can’t imagine this picture being seen any other way.  

Grade: A

Originally published in the Idaho State Journal/Oct-2013