Some refreshing aspects make it really worth watching!

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 1998)

I don't find "Apollo 13" a very entertaining movie, but it's still what I would call very good entertainment. Sometimes there is this kind of annoying emotionalism, which is quite clear, as it's about both technical achievement and American history. There is that one scene I dislike most: When the pope and the people at the Wailing Wall are praying for the astronauts. I have no idea whether this really happened or not - but honestly I do not believe it.
But the good thing is that I don't mind this emotionalism because of some very refreshing aspects. First what we see here are altogether very nice performances. Especially Ed Harris makes the movie enjoyable with his very fine acting. Kathleen Quinlan, who was nominated for an Oscar as well, is also very good - but you don't really notice her. Gary Sinise is almost as good as Harris and Tom Hanks also tries his best to give his character a special personality and some soul - he doesn't really succeed.
Also very refreshing is the small deal of irony in this. There are many little scenes before the launch which indicate in a slightly funny way that Apollo t h i r t e e n means disaster like Quinlan losing her wedding ring. All these aspects make a not really entertaining movie extremely worth watching. I voted 7, for good.
By the way...I noticed that Emily Ann Lloyd (whom you might know from "Home For the Holiday") who plays little Susan Lovell, is overacting. She's got no major importance for the story, but her overacting attracts of course attention.