Not a Movie Snob - Gravity

Posted on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at 06:00 PM

"Houston?"

Gravity

Gravity is kind of like Breaking Bad in space. Not so much in plot, it's not about Sandra Bullock and George Clooney selling meth to aliens from the ISS, but in circumstance. Just as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman pull their feet out of one big pile of shit only to step into another, from beginning to end in Gravity, it's just one damn thing after the next. A series of unfortunate events occurring a couple thousands miles above Earth.

Gravity is a sensory experience. Your eyes, your ears, your emotions, will get a workout. Your arms will probably get a workout while you're gripping your seat, your nose will probably get a workout when you wet yourself. Just kidding, it's not that bad. It's creepy more than scary. But deeply creepy. How much creepier can it get than free floating out into space?

Gravity is the ultimate logline movie. A logline is sentence or two that sums up an entire movie. The better the movie is summed up in the logline, the more the head studio cheese will want to make it. Gravity's logline?: Astronauts are fixing a satellite up in space, debris hit them, communications with earth are lost. That's about it. They try to get themselves to safety, but, in space, in zero gravity, all alone, it's tough. Not to mention that debris that's travelling at the speed of a bullet that hit them is orbiting Earth and will swing back around and hit them again in an hour and a half.

The two main astronauts are played by Sandra and George. This isn't George's first time in space. In 2002 he played Chris Kelvin in the movie Solaris, about a strange planet being orbited by a space station in which the entire crew has gone bananas. There's really not much to say about George. He's more or less the modern times' Cary Grant. That same suave, charismatic, perfectly groomed playboy in nearly every role. Sandra Bullock on the other hand, recipient of the most undeserved Oscar of all time, is great as the emotionally frazzled but strong when she needs to be Ryan Stone. Which is good because her character carries this movie through all of its perils and tight corners.

Gravity is so far, and will undoubtably remain to be, the most visually spectacular movie of the year. The Oscar for Best Special Effects already has Gravity's name etched on its faceplate. There's no doubt whatsoever that the whole thing is the product of greenscreen CGI, but it looks entirely convincing from beginning to end. Not only that, but if you see the film in 3D, which you should (you won't hear me say that very often), it will enhance your experience in every way. Director Alfonso Cuaron has joined the likes of James Cameron and Martin Scorsese and used 3D the way it is supposed to be used, to add depth and richness rather than as a marketing ploy or a way to rip an extra three bucks from our pockets.

Gravity is one of those movies where everything just clicks, like the mechanics of a deadbolt. The music masterfully complements and heightens the images; the images are photorealistic; the acting is in the right place; the story is far fetched, but in that Breaking Bad, 'I don't care because it's just too damn entertaining' kind of way. And like a jigsaw puzzle, it all ties together to create something much more beautiful and unique than the sum of its parts.

Gravity is one of the best movies of the year and Alfonso Cuaron (director of the chilling Children of Men and the best of the Harry Potter's, Prisoner of Azkaban) is officially one of the best directing talents in the business today.

Verdict:
At one moment breathtaking, at the next anxiety-provoking, Gravity is one of the best, most unique experiences of the year that is sure to absorb a bevy of nominations when the awards season nominations kick off.

Rating: *****