Interstellar

Movie Name: Interstellar
Year of Release: 2014

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentley, Matt Damon, Ellen Burstyn, Mackenzie Foy, John Lithgow, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, Bill Irwin, Michael Caine, David Gyasi, William Devane, Topher Grace, Brooke Smith
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7

Synopsis:

Director Christopher Nolan is back with another epic story, that though flawed, reveals his ambition and his strength in mastering concepts that are simultaneously original, didactic and entertaining. "Interstellar" follows the story of the Cooper family, in particular the parent figure and the younger daughter. This family lives in a large farm, focused mostly on growing corn - we learn the planet Earth is slowly dying and the food is wasting away. Cooper (father) and his daughter Murphy, find what remains of NASA, which are attempting to launch an exploratory mission close to Saturn in order to find other planets able to contain human life (and therefore prevent the extinction of the human race). Cooper, who used to be a space pilot for NASA, decides to lead the mission, leaving behind his heartbroken daughter (and his son and father in law). This mission leads Cooper and his team through a black-hole, and his exploration will force them to lose decades of events on Earth due to the time relativity. It's up to them and the team left on Earth to try to save what is left of Humanity.
Christopher Nolan (and his brother Jonathan), have become well known as the creators of stories that are densely layered (as can be seen by "Inception" and "The Dark Knight" trilogy), and sometimes not overtly emotional. "Interstellar" tries to compensate that, by placing at its core the relationship of a father and his daughter, and how the bonds of love transcend everything. The film is ingenious in the depiction of the complexities of time and science - which also ends up being its downfall. For all the intelligence this story has (and it does have it in spades), it also takes itself far too seriously, bordering on overly didactic (and this isn't a documentary and the claims to be factually and scientifically correct shouldn't even come into discussion). Where Christopher Nolan soars is in fact in the way his stories always loop around themselves, and how his set pieces (action and otherwise) are always staged. The film allows for limited range from the ensemble of actors cast: the strongest performances end up being Matthew McConaughey and Jessica Chastain (who are the ones who have something more to play, than just a limited archetype). The soundtrack from Hans Zimmer is at points overbearing and uneven, but the cinematography from Hoyte Van Hoytema is simply stunning. This film doesn't reach the heights of Stanley Kubrick's "2001", but it is entertaining, challenging and visually stunning. Worth watching.