when _ star wars _ came out some twenty years ago , the image of traveling throughout the stars has become a commonplace image .
when the millenium falcon moves throughout the stars , we see constellations , meteor showers , and cool space - ships .
when han solo goes light speed , the stars change to bright lines , going towards the viewer in lines that converge at an invisible point .
cool .
_ october sky _ offers a much simpler image -- that of a single white dot , traveling horizontally across the night sky .
was it really only forty years ago , when sputnik was launched , and that before then , no satellites ever existed ?
have we become so technologically advanced that we have forgotten that it was nearly two generations ago where people stood outside to breathlessly see a then - technological achievement , even though it was from the russians ?
it sounds hokey , but when that scene occurs near the beginning of _ october sky _ , i found myself caught up with the enthusiasm of homer hickam , played by jake gyllenhaal .
determined to make a dent in the space race , he becomes transfixed with his desire to make a rocket that could fly like the best of them .
it is films like this that we know the ending as we buy the ticket .
when lovely teacher miss riley ( played by laura dern ) , suggests that he enters his findings into the national science fair , we know exactly who is going to win .
but the joy in a film like this is in the little details .
for example , homer is clearly not the strongest student in his class . if he has any strengths whatsoever , it is an undeterring vision , and a good organizer .
it means that he may have to lose his reputation by associating with the nerdiest kid in school , who knows more about rocket science than he does .
it means that if his father forbids him to shoot rockets on company property ( that is , the entire coal - mining town ) , he must walk eight miles one way , just to set up the rockets , which will fail , fail , fail , and fail again .
homer+s
dad is played by chris cooper ,
a favorite actor of mine
since _ lone star _ .
here he plays the antithesis of the character he played in _ matewan
_ : instead of organizing union rallies , he is the head of the coal - miners , who is constantly wringing his hands against the unions .
this is will be one of the great unnoticed performances of the year
: note how multi - dimensional his character is
.
he is his son+s last nemesis , as one who most likely interferes with his son+s dreams .
but he truly loves his son , and wants to see him succeed the only way he knows how . through coal - mining . because of his character
, we can see how far we+ve come .
the revolution of modern technology has allowed for us to see society advanced at a rate far faster than any generation before us .
we don+t understand that there were the generations from the industrial revolution who knew of no other way to raise a family .
the paradigm was shifting under the father+s feet , and he knew of no other life .
so _ october sky _ , far from being merely a feel - good inspirational film , offers much food for thought .
and this is the best type of inspirational film ; the one that you take something with you .
btw , the final image of the film is just as simple , is as strong a contrast as the aforementioned horizontal - moving white dot against the night - sky background .
another commonplace image , to be sure , but it must have been breathtaking forty years ago .
the joy in a film like this a favorite actor of mine multi - dimensional his character is offers much food for thought the best type of inspirational film one of the great unnoticed performances of the year