Noble, visually memorable, clunky and hardly stellar but passable.

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2017)

There is no question that Interstellar is the kind of over ambitious movie that will polarize audiences, but I'll give it credit where it is do.
A strong first act is followed by a clumsy and dull second act followed by a climax which is enough of a mind-f**k to partially re-engage you. This is a medium good film, but far from a great one.
As far as the cast goes, Interstellar gets fair performances out of Matthew Mcconaughey and John Lithgow. Jessica Chastain is also strong yet strangely distant. Anne Hathoway meanwhile leaves us in the cold. She is as bland as she was in Dark Knight Rises. Nolan as a writer continues to have trouble delivering strong female characters.
The dialogue is not the film's strong suit. It is heavy on scientific jargon and forced sentiment and unless you are watching the film with surround sound, almost half the conversation is inaudible. Hanz Zimmer delivers a distinctive score but one that is so overbearing that whole lines of script get lost behind it.
The scenes in space are filmed quite admirably. This is movie where you get lost in the cosmos rather than admiring of the CGI quality. Special effects are not meant to be the star of the show. Interstellar sends its characters to planets that resemble real landscapes on Earth, and it doesn't need to dress them up or add flair to make you feel like you are light years from home.
I cannot say that Interstellar is not an endurance test, because it is. Though not as exhausting as say the last half of Return of the King, Interstellar is burdened by a very dull middle section with questionable editing decisions and a waste of Matt Damon. The Climax is highly cerebral but might leave you annoyed depending on how hard you try to deconstruct it.
The films heart is in the right place. It is an ambitious film with some unforgettable scenes, but it won't age as well as Nolan Batman trilogy, and is an acquired taste that won't be for everyone.