(4 Pulses)
I have to admit, I’m a sucker for inspirational films. Like The Rookie, Michael Polish’s The Astronaut Farmer tells of a man past his prime who still hasn’t given up on his dream. While wanting to build your own rocket and orbit the Earth may be a stretch, the film is made with such scope and bravado that it’s believable.
That’s all any good film can do-make us believe it’s real for the short period of our lives where the lights dim and film passes through the projector at 24 frames per second. The Astronaut Farmer is an inspirational film for the whole family.
In the film, Charles Farmer (Thornton) owns a ranch in Story, Texas, with his wife Audie (Madsen) and their children. It’s a close knit small town where everybody knows everybody, and Farmer is looked at as the town fool. I mean who herds their cattle in a space suit anyway? But Farmer isn’t an idiot, he has a degree in aerospace engineering and was an Air Force pilot destined to become an astronaut. However, things took a turn for the worse when he was discharged for being emotionally distraught. (I won’t reveal the reason for his mental condition to avoid spoiling it.)
Preparation for launch is going as well as can be expected. That is until the FBI finds Farmer’s e-mails asking someone for 10,000 tons of fuel. Making sure that he doesn’t harm anyone, the FBI raids his ranch and monitors him and his family day and night. Farmer’s lawyer advises him to have the media come film the situation, causing a media frenzy, but keeping the FBI in check.
When the Federal Aviation Administration intervenes, the launch stalls and Farmer takes things into his own hands. Whether he achieves his goal or not is irrelevant. The point is to never give up, follow your heart and not let anyone tell you what you can’t do.
“When I was a kid they used to tell me that I could be anything I wanted to be, no matter what,” says Farmer.
Thornton may be typecast at times because of his Arkansas accent, often playing Southern characters in Southern or Midwest towns, but he always manages to be convincing, grounding his characters in reality and making them have universal appeal. Playing an astronaut in this situation could have been laughable; thankfully it’s not.
Helping Thornton out, in what is probably a more thankless role, is Madsen. She radiates with warmth and beauty, leveling Audrey into believing that her husband can accomplish the impossible.
Never once does it feel like Charles and Audie shouldn’t be together, which is a testament to Thornton and Madsen’s acting ability and onscreen chemistry.
While the acting is very dramatic and emotional, the film also works because of the cinematography by M. David Mullen and the production design by Clark Hunter. Many of the shots of the main characters in front of the rocket are not only perfectly symmetrical but show the size of it compared to them. The panoramic shots of the outdoors, often with the sun setting, are also a joy to see. And the rocket itself is astonishing. Coupled with the massive barn and house it makes the farm in Superman Returns look small by comparison.
