Perhaps too ambitious even for Nolan...

Rating: 8/10 (17 April 2015)

If rating 'Interstellar' were only about the goals it sets to achieve it would be a Sci-Fi masterpiece taking a place among the best of the genre. Nolan has such lofty and admirable ambitions in what he sets out to do with 'Interstellar'. I admire Nolan a great deal. He takes risks and challenges audiences by mixing big canvas special effects films with deeper ideas. 'Interstellar' is his greatest risk and unfortunately it just can't quite hit the heights of 'The Dark Knight' or 'Inception'. It is Nolan's weakest film by far. The problem lies in the trouble this script has in meshing the characters with the science. 'Interstellar's world is just too large to not have characters our audiences can identify with to keep us grounded.
Ironically enough I think 'Interstellar' actually would have worked better as an ambitious HBO style miniseries. I think a major problem with it's script is the time it feels it needs to take to explain the advanced physics behind everything. The script does a very good job in explaining the concepts to a layman but this isn't all that is necessary to do. The Nolan brothers failed to make the ventures into black hole theory feel organic as a part of character and story. This problem with 'Interstellar' is manifested the most in this Coop character who is just too innocent and wholesome. Nolan is trying to do a Spielberg story here and that just isn't where his strengths as a storyteller lie. The character is just too much in command of everything. We are meant to believe that this middle American farmer is intelligent enough to have a grasp on the cold hard science of the film but that he has trouble grasping the fundamental philosophical ethical questions this apocalyptic scenario arises. Coop can't be the computer Nolan has him as and still be the warm empathetic father struggling to save his children. It just doesn't work. It limits what McConaughey can do with the role and it makes Nolan's grand prophetical thesis of the film seem far more overblown and pretentious than it needed to be. I think this problem could have been solved if McConaughey's character had less of that aptitude for science. I think he would have been a stronger character.
As a narrative exercise 'Interstellar' has some iffy aspects but as a visual experience it is a masterpiece. Nolan's gift is that his films feel as if they can be touched. He truly has the ability to make one look at the screen in awe. How often can you say that a special effects film truly feels epic today? 'Interstellar' isn't a cartoon. It's grand sweeping views of space with Hans Zimmer's magnificent score in the background shows us a filmmaker who still challenges the confines of the medium without giving in to gratuitous tricks.
'Interstellar' is Nolan's weakest film and this is coming from a huge Nolan fan. I will say though that even though it is Nolan's weakest film I still appreciate the risks he takes because they are interesting and bold risks.