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AD ASTRA (2019)

CAST
BRAD PITT
SEAN BLAKEMORE
GREG BRYK
LOREN DEAN
KIMBERLY ELISE
JOHN FINN
LISAGAY HAMILTON
DONNIE KESHAWARZ
TOMMY LEE JONES
NATASHA LYONNE
RUTH NEGGA
BOBBY NISH
JOHN ORTIZ
DONALD SUTHERLAND
LIV TYLER

WRITTEN BY
JAMES GRAY
ETHAN GROSS

PRODUCED BY
DEDE GARDNER
JAMES GRAY
ANTHONY KATAGAS
JEREMY KLEINER
ARNON MILCHAN
YARIV MILCHAN
BRAD PITT

DIRECTED BY
JAMES GREY

GENRE
DRAMA
SCI-FI

RATED
AUS:M
UK:12A
USA:PG-13

RUNNING TIME
123 MIN

 

 

 

 

It’s epic visuals dazzle, yet the strength of Ad Astra is found in its intimacy, as director James Gray urges us to embrace the wonderous creations in our orbit, rather than seek out worlds and dreams beyond our reach.

An interesting thing happened to me when I watched Ad Astra: I felt guilt. As a father of two boys who is currently working two jobs, time spent reviewing movies means time away from my kids. For the last 13 years of my life I have chased the dream of living a sustainable life as a film critic. As a single man it was possible. But with marriage and family, there is a duty of responsibility I took on as a husband and father. This includes how I allocate my time with my kids versus my time at the cinema. Dreams are replaced with realities. In my world of pie-in-the-sky career aspirations, gravity quickly grounded me.

Why bring this up now? Well, Ad Astra is a film that speaks about issues much more relevant than its “adventure through space” marketing suggests, namely the relationship between parent and child, and humanity’s tendency to take for granted the miracles that surround them. Whether it be ego or that quest for something greater, we humans are constantly seeking something more. This is especially so for parents who continue to cater to their own aspirations, driven by delusions of grandeur, rather than that of their children. Some call this “hard work”. What it should be called is selfishness.

For director and co-writer James Gray, that aspiration is found in the stars. Set in the future (no specific date mentioned), space travel has not only become accessible, but commercialised. What was once unreachable and miraculous, has become segmented and turned into realty, with the Moon now fought over by countries who want their part of lands beyond Earth. Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) has mastered the art of space exploration, developing a steely resolve so calculated, cold, and career driven, that he has shunned away his wife (a wasted Livy Tyler). When the fate of the Earth is under siege by mysterious power surges, the source is traced to a long thought lost space expedition, led by Roy’s father H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones). His experiments aimed at making contact with anything, anywhere, risks destroying the very real world he left behind.

Roy is tasked with finding his father and stopping his madness, and it is a journey through space and time that is more about the introspection of the psyche and nature of man, than a space-adventure in pure genre terms. Gray does provide much spectacle to be sure. Stunning imagery and thrilling sequences feature throughout, evoking the wonder, fear, and awe-inspiring nature of our universe.

But the universe and space travel is not the theme, but rather the backdrop. The journey in Ad Astra is done from within, as Roy wrestles with feelings of abandonment and guilt, while confronting a father whose legacy is that of a hero yet whose pursuits are driven by selfishness. The son replicates the father, as Roy is left floundering in space with no anchor back to Earth. The eventual reunion is as heartbreaking as it is cathartic.

Ad Astra is Latin for “to the stars”. It is often a curious thing how we gaze into the abyss of nothingness, while ignoring the miracles of creation that surrounds us at any given moment. For fathers such as myself, and parents in general, those miracles are our children. When the end credits roll on Ad Astra and I snapped out of stupor, never have I wanted to embrace my boys more than I did at that moment. Time is too precious, and we only have one life to live. Embrace what is in front of you, people.

 

 

****

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