By Jarrad Climpson
Ad Astra asks deep questions, but answers them with a sluggish pace.
On the surface level, Ad Astra wants to be more 2001: A Space Odyssey– a sprawling adventure through space, that is introspective and mediative, but ultimately falls short of achieving that goal. That’s not to say this is a bad movie, in fact for the most part it’s held together by a very solid performance from Brad Pitt, but the more you sit with the movie, the more you realise its potential is never fully realised.
The movie follows Major Roy McBride (played by Pitt) who is tasked with investigating the cause of mysterious power surges that are emanating from Neptune, which is the last known location of Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones), father of Pitt’s character and captain of the “Lima Project” who has been missing for over a couple of decades. Thus the hook of the movie is born. Director James Gray seems less focused on exploring the journey to Neptune, and instead spends it focusing on Roy’s psyche and thematically on the familial bond of father and son.
Without going into spoilers, the movie becomes an examination of how a son follows in his father’s footsteps, repeating the same mistakes. However, Gray is careful not to give this movie a pessimistic outlook, in fact one may find that its cautiously optimistic. The ending really nails this home, but I won’t touch on that here. Where the movie falls short in achieving its profound introspection, is that large chunks of the movie are narrated by Pitt’s character (at a sluggish pace as well). Voiceover in general should be used to guide an audience into a line of thinking, but I found the movie was telling me how I should be feeling and thinking in any given moment. Therefore, I was never allowed to sit with my own thoughts with what the movie was trying to say. This is where 2001 excels, it doesn’t tell its audience how to feel about what’s being depicted or what deeper meaning should be found, it simply conveys an image and the individual is left to examine their emotional response to the stimulus.
Another area where Ad Astra sadly falters is in the wastage of its supporting cast. Actors like Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler and Ruth Negga create interesting initial appearances in their roles, but the movie quickly forgets about them that no emotional resonance is created with anyone other than Brad Pitt. That being said Pitt is phenomenally good, the movie works because of his subtle performance. It’s something Pitt’s back career has been good at, giving us subtle and nuanced performances that don’t overpower a scene.
All in all, Ad Astra is a serviceable film, but the search for this year’s best continues…
The Scribble 