Dominique Smith | Staff Writer
Recently, I finally decided to go to the movies and catch up on the latest film craze, “Gravity.” When I saw the movie trailer back in September I had an inclination the film was going to be a lot of Sandra Bullock floating in space, lost and alone.
When the film opened up with a view of the fantastic blue planet in which we live I was completely enamored and little did I know the hour and thirty minute film would have me glued to my chair the whole time.
The film’s heroine Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and her space companion Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) and another member of N.A.S.A’s space operation Sharrif (Phaldut Sharma) are seen floating around a satellite that Stone is repairing. Kowalski is having a spirited conversation with the N.A.S.A. command about how he has a bad feeling about the mission that they have to complete by comparing funny stories of the other bad feelings he’s had in his life. As Stone concentrates on getting her mission done Nasa reports Russia has conducted a missile strike that has knocked out one of their satellites, sending debris flying faster then a speeding bullet.
This is when the film’s action takes place. Stone who is in the middle of her work decides to try to finish despite Kowalski’s desperate demand to abort, when the debris from the satellite comes barreling towards them at unruly speeds.
Stone gets disconnected from the tether and starts floating endlessly in space, rapidly running out of air and spinning out of control with no contact from N.A.S.A. We finally hear Clooney’s character Matt radio into her trying to keep her calm so that he can go rescue her.
The emotion and anxiety filled roller coaster that follows for the next 90 minutes is something I have never experienced in a movie theater. Houston says it best to Matt while he is telling his story about his bad feelings: “Anxiety is not good for the heart.”
Bullock’s performance leaves you panicked and fearful right along with her as she fights to get to the Russian space station to get back to earth.
Clooney provides a lighthearted comfort that makes you laugh away some of the fear that comes along with the flying space debris that reappears every 90 minutes.
One of the most heartfelt and touching moments of the film is when Matt and Ryan are tethered together making their way to the space station and Matt decides to fill the empty silence with a Q & A.
This film has something that I have not seen in a long time. Written and Directed by Alfonso Cuaron with a few adlibs from Clooney the film not only reteaches you fear better than any horror movie in the last few years but provides a beautiful relief by the time you reach the closing credits, making you feel like you really were in the final frontier.
