Interstellar Review

Christopher Nolan is now in his post blockbuster franchise phase, his next move was going to really test his metal, he could have gone for a small film to find his feet again, or you could do what only Nolan would do, and head off to outer space. Based on the theoretical work of physicist Kip Thorne, Interstellar has been around for a long time and was formerly a Spielberg property. It's a film that REALLY wears it's science on its sleeve, and given that it's based on the work of one of the earth smartest men it really holds up, it's problem is however that it's occasionally too smart for its own good, it doesn't need to simplify it but there are moments when intelligent physics jargon is just dumped on your head for you to try and make sense of. It also seems to suffer from a lack expression, the space scenes are infrequently beautiful but spoiled by the persistence of using shots from the hull of the ships, and the planets themselves though impressive also seem muted in style, lots of dark greys and then lighter shades of grey. Its surprising then that given all the films intelligence the moments when its at its best are when it shows it has a heart. The father daughter relationship is at the heart of this film, and you really feel the strain that the brilliant McConaughey goes through to leave his family, one sequence where he catches up on 23 years’ worth of messages from home is truly heart-breaking. Hans Zimmer also provides a score that could be his best with Nolan to date. The final 20 minutes does seem to slip into full on Kubrick existential sci-fi where things don’t fully resolve in a satisfactory manner, and it may need a larger sense of humour, but the exceptional thing about Nolan’s latest work is its ambition. It’s a film that definitely doesn’t succeed everywhere, but it reached for the moon, and it just might well have caught a star. (Low 5 Stars)