It can't really be perfect...

Rating: Null/10 (14 June 2004)

Apollo 13 is the type of film that inspires an almost reverential cinematic high immediately after a showing. This in itself is good. It's yet another example of the a well-made film's power. But then you sleep on it for a few nights; your blood cools; and you realize the film isn't actually perfect. Right?
Apollo 13 certainly has everything going for it. The acting is first rate, with Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton all giving career-high performances. The script is excellent; it successfully rides the line of maximum emotion without degenerating into cliche and saccharine territory. It has excellent cinematography and visual effects. It's a superior period picture, although I'm relying on hearsay for this, since it takes place a generation before my time. Ron Howard also displays a willingness to take a few risks. The movie would have worked excellently as a straight docudrama, but he instead adds a few touches to give it some more intangible impact -- some "evil omen" signs that don't insult the audience's intelligence, and some dream and fantasy scenes that work excellently.
One thing I noticed was that the film wears its era's politics quite unashamedly. There is precious little revisionist history here. The women are all housewives with very simple moral world-views, and the world they live in is completely white-bred. Tom Hank's Lovell reminisces about his World War II record, his son goes to military school, and the newscasts at the end are overstuffed with references to prayers for the astronauts going on all over the world. A lot of these are small details that could have been changed with no trouble, but the filmmakers retained them, and the cumulative impact is to give a very clear sense that you are living in the Nixon era.
Ultimately, this may be the cause of my hesitation. This is a film that works best if you whole-heartedly immerse yourself in its emotions, rather than holding back to ponder its political bent. But even so, that climax and ending monologue will get you every time.