Parts of it are excellent

Rating: 4/10 (1 December 2014)

"Interstellar" is a near-future quest story. Humanity is doomed by ecological collapse that's killing off food crops. A crew of astronauts explores planets on which our species can re-settle. I found it to be a film of interesting images, breathtaking visuals, and little consistency or sense.
There were three things I loved about it. First, it's the most solid and moving portrayal of the effects of time dilation I think I've ever seen. I've known about the "Twin Paradox" since I first encountered it in a children's book about space travel, but seeing it depicted here had real emotional punch. The second thing I loved was the representation of time as a physical dimension at the movie's climax. I thought this sequence was very cleverly done, and did an excellent job of representing five-dimensional space in three dimensions on a two-dimensional screen! Beyond that, there's a lot of eye candy here. The spaceship interiors are gorgeous and feel suitably lived-in and real; and many of the exteriors of space are really beautiful to look at.
Unfortunately, that's all I have to recommend in "Interstellar", a movie which can't seem to decide whether it wants to be "2001: A Space Odyssey" or not. On the one hand, the core story is that of a lone astronaut who traverses an artificial gateway located in the outer solar system to reach another dimension. Passing through the gateway, he is transformed to some other plane of being and can transmit messages of vital importance to friends and associates (OK, more shades of "2010: Odyssey Two" in this latter element). A substantial part of the film is taken up with the traveller's coming to terms with his extra-dimensional existence. He even has an AI to keep him company! (OK, shades of "2061: Odyssey Three" now".) However, "Interstellar" also includes more conventional narrative elements, including landings on and exploration of two planets before the encounter with the stargate, a fistfight with a crazy astronaut from a previous expedition, and a paper-thin love story.
Actually, I think the "crazy astronaut" subplot could have been a stronger film all by itself, as could have the time dilation tragedy, (as could the stargate story had Kubrick not already told it forty years ago). For me, "Interstellar" tries too many things, commits deeply to none of them, and the result is a disjointed mess.
Finally, given the obvious expense and care with which spacecraft are visually represented, it was a shame that their movements were so woefully unrealistic, especially in a film that seemed so eager to ape "2001" in so many ways. Kubrick instinctively understood the ballet-like grace and beauty of objects in the grip of "the cold equations" of motion in space. The equivalent sequences in "Interstellar" are nothing short of ludicrous. This wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but it was annoying and disappointing.
I wanted to like this movie a whole lot more than I did, but to me it was merely "OK".