Chin-scratching stuff

Rating: 8/10 (13 November 2014)

I consider myself a big Christopher Nolan fan and feel he's one of the best directors around today, but I'm no fan-boy (I hate that word). With Interstellar, he has once again achieved a highly remarkable film, if not his most rewarding. Matthew McConaughey solidifies his recent string of great performances as the astronaut tasked with saving mankind. Not by saving the Earth (that's literally decaying into a dust-bowl), but by finding a new habitable planet, via a newly formed wormhole on the edge of Saturn, that leads to a new galaxy. Got it? Thankfully, Nolan retains a human touch throughout the journey by our hero's love of his daughter and his promise to return - even though they may both be the same age when he returns (that's relativity for you folks!). In fact, strip away all the astrophysics and there's simply a strong message about the power of human love. What they should have stripped away is some of Hans Zimmer's overbearing score - as it often drowns out some of the character's dialogue, making the complex space dimensional theories easy to miss and harder to understand. I love the science-stuff and it makes for interesting, thought-provoking viewing but also renders the film slightly dull and dare I say, boring, in places. Ironically, a bit like space itself – resplendent and mesmerising here, empty and cold there. Fortunately these moments are rare as the film is a pure spectacle to behold, as you'd expect by a Nolan film, from sweeping vistas to dream-like imagery – the void of space has rarely been so real. The eerily silent moments of space arguably more authentic than what "Gravity" recently achieved. There's no denying that Interstellar is a technical marvel and ingenious film-making but, for me, it lacks that cathartic thrill to elevate this to a higher score. I wanted to be more emotionally invested with the human drama but I was so involved in the science that the "pull-at-the-heart-string" moments felt oddly diluted. That said, this is a film that warrants at least a second viewing to fully appreciate it and will cause many discussions and scratching of chins for years to come.