Acting and realism were superb.

Rating: 9/10 (15 May 2017)

This movie might have been about space, but it was the human story that made it. The movie skillfully shifted from space to the control center to the families at home without being melodramatic or glib. Every face had deliberate emotion and Tom Hanks clearly led the way. He stole the show without stealing scenes from other actors which moves him out of the group of good actors to great ones. Kevin Bacon also did well with his character's struggle with being a last minute replacement that wasn't necessarily enthusiastically welcomed. The technical talk was at times pushed into weird conversations as it was necessary but not made interesting enough to pay attention to for long periods which they made up for with the three astronauts struggling with their physical movements in the cramped area trying to save themselves. The audience didn't always understand the specifics of the problems but they were still able to feel the tensions of the moments. Something that really kept me going with the movie was how mission control really embraced only being able to use the materials the astronauts had in solving all the problems. The back and forth between mission control and the astronauts as a result livened up the end that is usually just a bunch of men yelling at computers. As a result of the movie being based on a true story, there were very few opportunities for falsities to exist in the movie. The realism added to everything really allowed the drama of the movie to be fully embraced by the audience. Regardless of having the knowledge of how the movie ends, the audience is still able to ride every emotional wave with the character in the story. My main complaint would have to be that the ending was a bit anticlimactic just because after the climax of the story, there was a drop in emotion that never came back up. My heart stopped beating so fast and there was never a moment that tugged at my heart-strings to cap it all off. Overall, it was truly an incredible movie I would easily recommend to anyone. This is a great introduction into the space genre, especially considering how it was based on a true story.