Gravity ***** (2013, Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris ) – Movie Review

Easily one of 2013’s finest films, Gravity enjoyed ten Oscar nominations, and on the night of March 2 2014 won seven of them, including Best Director, Cinematography, Score and Visual Effects. Alas, it missed out on Best Film and Best Actress for Sandra Bullock, who probably feels sore losing to Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. A tough call for the Academy voters, that one.

In the movie, Sandra Bullock plays brilliant medical engineer Dr Ryan Stone, who is on her first shuttle mission after elaborate training, which is sure going to come in handy before the movie’s very old. But soon she is lost in space after she goes on a seemingly routine space walk and disaster strikes.

Luckily she’s got George Clooney’s veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky up there with her. Looking pretty grey and wrinkly inside his space helmet, he’s in command of his last flight before retiring. Clooney’s full of resourcefulness, good cheer, charm and, of course, silver-fox good looks. All these, too, are sure going to come in handy before the movie’s very old.

Dr Stone is fixing something on some piece of gizmo out there, with Kowalsky chattering away to her. Suddenly, Mission Control at Houston tells them they’ve got a problem as zillions of rocks fly their way. They quickly make their way back to the supposed safety of their shuttle. But their third crew member is killed and the shuttle is destroyed.

Stone and Kowalsky are now left completely alone – tethered to nothing but each other and spiralling out into the blackness. Kowalsky has a plan that could save them yet, if only they can get over to a Russian station, then on to a Chinese station…

This is one of those rare ‘how they hell did they do this’ movies. It’s so brilliantly achieved that even I can’t find any adjectives good enough for it. Gravity is… No, not one single adjective is good enough, not even a long clutch of them.

This is a totally immersive and visceral, wow!, ***k! experience. Really don’t go to see it if you’re suffering from stress or vertigo. This will add enormously to your pain.

I have to apologise to my fellow cinema-goers. I found myself shouting ‘come on Sandra’ a lot at the screen during the film, that is in between shouting ‘wow!’ and ‘***k!’ a lot. I never thought I‘d shout ‘come on Sandra’. She is very, very good indeed in the role, astoundingly so. And maybe because of that, or just because of all she goes through, you really want her to make it back to Earth. As long as she promises not to make Miss Congeniality 3, that is.

Clooney, naturally, is great value too, a smashing support turn to the Sandra Show. Sandra manages to look great throughout the movie, whatever the script chucks at her, and boy it chucks everything but the kitchen sink at her. At 49, she’s a marvel, in top physical and facial shape. Why, even her eye-liner survives the script’s devious plans for her.

Director Alfonso Cuaron and his son Jonas wrote the screenplay. But it’s more of a situation and a plotline than a script, a peg on which to hang this wonderful object and experience that is Gravity. The film, by rights, ought to have turned out to be a bit self-consciously arty, like Solaris (that also starred Clooney). But, instead, it joyously emerges as great popular entertainment, as well as a great work of art.

Plotwise, as Sandra conveniently tells us, there are only two outcomes to the story. She dies or lands safely. But, as she says, either way it’s a hell of a ride. And Gravity is all about the ride. There’s enough tension and suspense in this ride to fill 100 movies.

Alfonso Cuaron’s direction, Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography, Andy Nicholson’s production designs and Framestore’s visual effects are just absolutely incredible, truly out of this world. Be amazed, be very amazed.

James Cameron has called it ‘the best space movie ever done’. In some ways it may be but it doesn’t replace 2001 A Space Odyssey, it just adds to it. Gravity and its visual effects wouldn’t be possible without 2001. Gravity will in time takes its place as another great milestone both in the movies and in space movies.

Ed Harris is the radio voice of Mission Control, the role he played in Apollo 13.

For the record, Alfonso Cuaron is the director of A Little Princess (1995), Great Expectations (1998), Y Tu Mama Tambien, Children of Men and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Nothing about those films can prepare you for Gravity.

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© Derek Winnert 2013 Movie Review

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