"Who am I to talk about loneliness?"

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2016)

As improbable as the story is, it had a certain resonance to my mind about the capacity of the human spirit to persevere and make the best of one's circumstances under the most intolerable of conditions. Faced with the same situation, how many would simply give up and let fate take it's course? The harder thing to do is stretch one's mind and resources in an effort to stay alive and operate from a position of informed intelligence until help arrives. When Mark Watney (Matt Damon) proclaims "I'm not gonna die here", not only do you believe it but you wish there was something you could do to help.
That's not to say I didn't find some elements to be just too unbelievable. The real time communication with the rescue team, and especially the sharing of Watney's comments with the rest of the world defied any sort of credibility. China helping pro-actively - I don't think so, at least not in an official capacity. The cracking wise dialog of the crew members was also a little too forced it seemed. You would think there would be some consternation over the plight of the stranded team member.
But for a sci-fi film offering a once in a lifetime what if scenario, the picture works well enough to be an entertaining diversion. I can think of worse ways to spend a couple of hours.