Star Chores

Rating: 5/10 (24 March 2020)

Alphabetical scrawl through the films on Sky Movies has me land on "2001: A Space Odyssey" on a lockdowned Saturday afternoon.
Two astronauts, David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) are on a mission to Jupiter when their ships computer HAL (Douglas Rain) suggests that a piece of kit is broken, although with further investigation this proves not to be the case. Unaware of any issues with their artificially intelligent system previously the guys talk privately about the idea of rebooting HAL, an idea the sentient computer doesn't find appealing.
Try as I might, and my little film nerd heart would really like to, I just can't come around to liking "2001". I can appreciate the artistry of the special effects - revolutionary for the time - and I love the scope of the film. Human evolution laid out from start to finish. But I just find it too much of a chore to get through, particular that closing half an hour - which I don't think I've ever made it through without at least a bit of fast forwarding. I can also appreciate that the performances are good, the classical music is iconic in this context and I can see why it's become such a cultural touchstone. I love Kubick films, and love that he's such an auteur, in the time of auteurs, that he can make a film as wildly loose and esoteric as this one.
But none of that appreciation transfers into what I want from a movie, which is either to be entertained or educated and despite all the will in the world, I'm yet to find that with "2001".