A beautiful film about our beautiful universe

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2014)

'Gravity' is a visually stunning movie. It reminds us just how much beauty there really is out there. From the opening shot, right up until the closing one, we are taken on a journey of stunning visuals both from space and here on Earth. But there's also more to this movie than just that. We are taken on a spectacular story of survival told absolutely wonderfully by director Alfonso Cuarón, who is up for a well earned Oscar nomination, both for his film and his directing.
Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are the only two actors really of significance throughout the entirety of the film (there is also one other astronaut who doesn't last long and a few radio voices including that of Ed Harris). Both are nothing short of brilliant in their roles. Clooney plays a character perfectly suited to him. He's a charming, funny and on to it astronaut. He's calm, cool and collected - just the kind of guy you want around in a crisis. This was a brilliant character to have because at the half way point when he drifts away to certain death and we are left alone with Bullock's character, our sense of agoraphobia (fear of wide open spaces) is doubled. We've had that comfort zone and now suddenly it's gone.
We are always feeling the same emotions as Bullock's character due in part to the wonderful way the film is shot by Cuarón, but also due to the wonderful performance given by Bullock, who has received a well deserved Oscar nomination for her role. She is simply riveting to watch. We feel her pain over the lose of her child and we are always rooting for her to survive. When she's short on oxygen, we are short on oxygen. When she can't manage to grab onto something to stop herself drifting away, we can't either. It's terrific stuff.
'Gravity' is such a unique film. There isn't a huge amount of dialogue and not even really that much action, and yet it's compulsive viewing. It's the only film really challenging '12 Years a Slave' for the Best Picture win at the Oscars. I personally think it's the better of the two films and will be watching closely to see if it can get up. It really is a must see.