Review: Ad Astra

Brad Pitt plays the son of an astronaut who headed an expedition to search for extra-terrestrial life on Neptune 27 years ago. Contact ceased 16 years ago, Pitt’s father (played by Tommy Lee Jones) presumed dead. Now an astronaut himself, Pitt is called upon for a new mission. It appears that Jones may in fact still be alive and Pitt is asked to make contact with the man. First he is to travel to the Moon, before launching on a ship for Mars. It’s from there that he is to try to make contact with his father (a man he spent his whole life terrified of) to figure out what happened to the mission and whether it has anything to do with the strange energy surges currently affecting Earth. Donald Sutherland plays an astronaut who knew Pitt’s father very well, Ruth Negga turns up as an administrator on Mars, Liv Tyler is Pitt’s estranged wife, whilst the usual talking head officials are played by the likes of John Finn and Lisa Gay Hamilton.

 

There’s been quite a few space travel films in the last decade, and now comes this 2019 film from director James Gray (“The Yards”, “We Own the Night”) and co-writer Ethan Gross (story editor and occasional writer on TV’s “Fringe”). It’s probably the weakest of the lot, but that’s not saying much because I’ve enjoyed all of them, especially “Gravity” and “The Martian”. This one would be even better if not for the terrible voice-over narration by the otherwise terrific lead actor Brad Pitt. It’s entirely unnecessary inner-thought bullshit and ever-mumbly Pitt just isn’t the guy for such narration, relevant or not. Otherwise this one works. It also has a doozy of a plot that is pretty hard to resist (It’s more “Interstellar” than “Gravity”). It’s also incredibly well-shot by Hoyte Van Hoytema (“The Fighter”, “Her”), easily one of the best-looking films of the year. It grabs you from the opening scene, featuring an absolutely incredible stunt that is horrifying to watch, despite knowing full well that I was watching mere stunt work. The film is an interesting depiction of the mental/emotional toll from long space travel, albeit fictionalised space travel.

 

Given Pitt’s character was supposedly terrified of his father growing up, it makes perfect sense for the man to be played by Tommy Lee Jones, who is absolutely not here to sanction anyone’s buffoonery. Although his first moment on screen is a tad hammy and distracting, Tommy Lee Jones is otherwise excellent in a small amount of screen time. ***** MILD SPOILER WARNING ***** His second scene in particular is absolutely chilling in its display of cold, completely emotionless underplaying by the actor. A very sad character, this man is driven by a singular interest and it’s not family bonding. It’s exploring the unknown. How much of a life does that singular focus add up to, really? ***** END MILD SPOILER ***** Donald Sutherland is far too old for space travel given he was already too old in 2000’s “Space Cowboys” (co-starring Jones). However, if you get past that, Sutherland gives one of his best performances in quite a while. The fact that he’s not playing his standard James Coburn/John Huston-type nefarious old bastard character for a change certainly helps. Nice smaller turns by Ruth Negga, Lisa Gay Hamilton, and the underrated John Finn too. Liv Tyler is utterly wasted playing the wife of an astronaut yet again (but without the extended screaming and crying this time, which…why even bother then?), in what amounts to a walk-on at best. I’m not sure why she bothered showing up to be honest.

 

It’s not a great film by any means, and Pitt’s flat narration slightly undercuts an otherwise terrific performance. However, it’s a solid space drama with terrific performances, a pretty irresistible premise, and absolutely stunning cinematography.  

 

Rating: B-