A technical if not narrative achievement

Rating: 7/10 (3 July 2014)

With just 2 characters, 3 if you count Ed Harris's voice in the darkness, "Gravity" asks a lot of both the actors and audience to sustain interest in a technically impressive but not dramatically impressive exercise. Basically, 2 astronauts, Clooney at his charming best and Bullock (kind of dowdy in this one), try to find a means of survival after a cascading series of space disasters. That's it as far as story - somewhat reminiscent of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" in terms of minimalist plot. The obvious rigging, digital and blue screen motion capture impress in the same way they impressed in James Cameron's "Avatar". However, like the big blue aliens with human boobs, Bullock doesn't have a ton of witty dialog or plot twists to work with and much of her actions consist of twisting knobs, flipping switches and the like. Much of her emotions come down to desperation and exasperation. Much has been made of the technical holes but no talks about Bullock's character's admission that she is still deeply affected by the death of her daughter in a traffic accident. How did that make it past the psychological review before she was sent in space? In short, far more of a technical achievement than a great story.