Approved by science - not

Rating: 5/10 (3 August 2016)

This film claims that it was produced with the help of astrophysicist Kip Thorne. Without understanding how a feature film could benefit by being scientifically correct, I became curious. According to an astrophysics website, the event horizon is "A one-way boundary in space-time surrounding a black hole. Any matter or light that falls through the event horizon of a black hole can never leave, and any event inside the event horizon cannot affect an outside observer." So far, so good. Let's see what Nolan and Thorne did with this.
After watching the trailer, I expected a family melodrama with a lot of tearful goodbyes, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, the clichés are there, including the obnoxious breakfast table scene, but it's all rather low key. The vision of our planet that is morphing into a giant dust ball is gloomy and apocalyptic, the visuals are rather restrained, there is no cheap razzle-dazzle. The movie seems to build up to something quite serious.
Unfortunately, the plot is a bit hard to believe at times. Need an example? Here you go: Cooper, the corn farmer, without further ado, is chosen to be the pilot and leader of the space mission that must secure the survival of the human species. It's true: he just stumbles into the base and the head scientist of the decision making committee asks whether he would like to fly their spacecraft. Conveniently, the craft is docked right next to their conference table.
The middle part the film develops those central themes that made me watch it in the first place, which is the relativity of time during interstellar travels and the loneliness of man in outer space. According to what we learn from the conversations in the movie, an astronaut can completely miss out on events, because a minute that he spends in his spaceship can equal to an entire month or more on his home planet. Should this ever become a real issue for mankind on it's search for new planets, then it must inevitably lead to stories that would have their match in old Greek tragedies. Together with the stunning visuals, this represented the strongest and most plausible chapter in Interstellar for me. I was ready to go all the way with those explorers. But then they went for the happy ending.
The last part of the film ruins everything. It is now confirmed that Hollywood is willing to bend space and time in order to get what they want, which is usually the resurrection from death. In order to understand how little they cared about scientific accuracy, one would have to remember the statement from the astrophysics website I noted above. Not only does Cooper communicate with his daughter from inside the black hole, he also manages to escape it without a scratch and – reunite with his daughter. Astrophysics are turned upside down and our brains go into hibernation. There is no room for interpretation or imagination, because Interstellar spoon feeds us the final scenes. When the movie ended, I felt suffocated and out of touch with reality. Maybe never before have I felt so sharply the contrast between a blockbuster and a film that has enough trust in it's own audience to let them form their own thoughts. 5/10