A couple of months ago I went t NASA with a couple of cousins who were visiting from overseas. I was a bit surprised by how much I enjoyed the whole visit. I was awed by the last few decades of space travel and the shear human achievement of it all. It’s simply amazing that we have been to space and landed on the moon. I don’t think we give this as much thought as we should. It really is a testament to what humans can achieve at their best. Then a few days before seeing this film an unmanned ship lands on a moving asteroid! That’s brilliant stuff! Interstellar at its core has this idea, that space exploration and discovery is not just “nice” but is essential to the human race’s survival. I love it for that. It is a really spectacular piece of movie making with gorgeous set pieces that I am so glad I got to experience in  a movie theater.

Cooper, played by Matthew McConaughey in yet another strong performance, is an ex NASA astronaut who is forced to leave his daughter and son behind on a mission to explore the viability of three separate “worlds” that are exposed via a wormhole close to Saturn. I don’t care much of the science is “accurate” or not. This is not a college course. I did like how it handled the idea of relativity. When Cooper and Brand (Ann Hathaway) are debating which planet they should explore, they have to seriously consider that an hour there is about 10 years on earth! Time is really of the essence. As they waste time on a planet people back on earth are aging and dying. One particularly heartbreaking scene is right after they get back from one of those planets and Cooper is going through years of messages from his family. 

Interstellar is spectacular as I mentioned and it has many flaws -mostly script and dialogue- but it is so worth seeing because it is done so well and when it is firing on all cylinders it really is great. It’s a film that we do not see much of anymore. I am curious to see how this one ages. Will I see it again in 10 years and admire still? I hope so.