On the cusp of something...

Rating: 4/10 (3 November 2014)

Sigh. I really really wanted to like this movie. It had a lot of potential. Visually it is stunning, art really, the sound-track is glorious and there are moments of true meaty Nolan magic. But ultimately the story falls flat. Whether it was the writing or the editing the whole thing felt disjointed, simultaneously crammed (with subplots that are opened and closed without any emotion making them unsatisfying and, with such a run time, leave you wondering if they were better off left out) and empty (trying to do everything, little was done very well).
The actors seem to struggle as the script gives them no scope for development. Often the cast are spewing lines to explain things and move the plot rather than as characters. There is a sense of bridled thoroughbreds with such a stellar cast delivering sporadic moments of emotion so intense - as though trying to compensate - which are jarring at best, and more often cringe-y. The star of the show really is Mackenzie Foy as the sassy young Murph.
The science is grating, laden with the use of the words 'relativity' and 'quantum data' every 2 minutes (it feels like). The reason for the ecosystem break down is glossed over (climate change too controversial for the American public?) and the astronaut needs a paper sketch to understand what a worm-hole is.
And finally you have to ask, if you go back in time, and get another chance to make yourself stay, why would you send yourself the same message you had already ignored? Surely you try a different tact when you are (at that stage) genuinely trying to change the outcome. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
Unfortunately this will not be Nolan film I watch over and over.