"Gravity" review

Plenty of dazzle, not enough substance

Alfonso Cuaron’s Hollywood career began very well.  He directed “Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban”, the first film in that franchise to leave behind Chris Columbus’ sweet but bland ambiance and embrace some much-needed adult darkness.  Cuaron followed that with the superlative “Children of Men”, one of the best post-apocalyptic sci-fi stories of the decade.  As such, I had high hopes for “Gravity”, but unfortunately the film falls flat.

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are astronauts on a routine space mission that suddenly becomes a soundless, airless nightmare.  Their shuttle is lost, their crew is killed and they are left floating adrift.  The story takes advantage of the fact that the Earth's atmosphere is cluttered with man-made objects, and that each one can provide a potential lifeline or a quick death.  However each attempt that the stranded pair makes to save themselves goes awry, and their options for survival shrink quickly.

Being trapped in open space is a lethal scenario.  You have limited oxygen, there is nothing to hold on to and no rescue team is coming.  You must save yourself.  Sandra Bullock tries very hard to appear terrified, but despite her earnest efforts to be seen as a serious actor, I keep waiting for a punch line.  She’s like the female version of Tom Hanks.  George Clooney’s grizzled veteran also is unconvincing because his constant jokes and unflappable cool are unbelievable given the severity of the circumstances.

“Gravity” also suffers from an over reliance on visual effects to create a sense of danger.  The nearly mute scenes of space debris tearing ships and stations apart are terrifying given the realistic sound mix, but the appeal is mostly technical.  Several moments also glared in their sole inclusion to appeal to the resurgent 3D trend, and I found them as distracting and irritating as a cell phone ringtone.  “Gravity” tries to amaze with a story of a woman finding the courage to live, but the film sinks under the weight of its aspirations, failing to achieve the balance between emotion and calculation.  In space, no one can you meh.

"The Spectacular Now" review

The party’s over, but that's a good thing.

Teen coming-of-age dramadies are a summer movie staple, and given this frequency, the chances of discovering one that has something fresh and original to say grows smaller with each passing year.  There are only so many characters and stories to tell, which is why “The Spectacular Now” is such a pleasant surprise.  While familiar elements abound, the film successfully avoids clichés in favor of small, intimate moments of great significance.

Miles Teller plays Sutter Keely, a charming but salacious, hard-drinking high school senior who loves his non-stop party lifestyle.  However, his girlfriend has just dumped him because she knows that the real world is waiting for both of them after graduation and she wants to make plans.  Sutter doesn’t care about the future, and seeks further distraction by pursuing shy but sweet Aimee Finicky, played by Shailene Woodley. 

As their relationship blossoms, the potential for disaster looms as Aimee, star struck over Sutter's attentions, is drawn into his boozing.  However, Aimee has a positive influence which results in Sutter’s first meeting with his long-absent father.  The experience proves crushing, as Sutter sees a possible future version of himself.  The vision is terrifying and drives him further into the bottle.  A near-fatal accident provides the final catalyst for Sutter’s awakening.

 

The character scenes are so underplayed that it almost works against the film.  There are no big “Oscar” moments, and while this creates a more realistic atmosphere, it threatens to give the movie a flat tone.  I didn’t experience a strong emotional reaction until the very end, but I believe that’s the point.  Change is hard and usually takes a long time to happen, which is why it takes Sutter so long to finally understand that the party’s over.  While that realization is bittersweet, it means that there is hope for his future, and that Aimee can be part of it.