October Sky
When _Star Wars_ came out some twenty years ago, the image of traveling throughout the stars has become a commonplace image. When the Millenium Falcon moves throughout the stars, we see constellations, meteor showers, and cool space-ships. When Han Solo goes light speed, the stars change to bright lines, going towards the viewer in lines that converge at an invisible point. Cool.
_October Sky_ offers a much simpler image--that of a single white dot, traveling horizontally across the night sky. Was it really only forty years ago, when Sputnik was launched, and that before then, no satellites ever existed? Have we become so technologically advanced that we have forgotten that it was nearly two generations ago where people stood outside to breathlessly see a then-technological achievement, even though it was from the Russians?
It sounds hokey, but when that scene occurs near the beginning of _October Sky_, I found myself caught up with the enthusiasm of Homer Hickam, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Determined to make a dent in the space race, he becomes transfixed with his desire to make a rocket that could fly like the best of them.
It is films like this that we know the ending as we buy the ticket. When lovely teacher Miss Riley (played by Laura Dern), suggests that he enters his findings into the National Science Fair, we know exactly who is going to win. But the joy in a film like this is in the little details.
For example, Homer is clearly not the strongest student in his class. If he has any strengths whatsoever, it is an undeterring vision, and a good organizer. It means that he may have to lose his reputation by associating with the nerdiest kid in school, who knows more about rocket science than he does. It means that if his father forbids him to shoot rockets on company property (that is, the entire coal-mining town), he must walk eight miles one way, just to set up the rockets, which will fail, fail, fail, and fail again.
Homer+s Dad is played by Chris Cooper, a favorite actor of mine since _Lone Star_. Here he plays the antithesis of the character he played in _Matewan_: instead of organizing union rallies, he is the head of the coal-miners, who is constantly wringing his hands against the unions. This is will be one of the great unnoticed performances of the year: note how multi-dimensional his character is. He is his son+s last nemesis, as one who most likely interferes with his son+s dreams. But he truly loves his son, and wants to see him succeed the only way he knows how. Through coal-mining.
Because of his character, we can see how far we+ve come. The revolution of modern technology has allowed for us to see society advanced at a rate far faster than any generation before us. We don+t understand that there were the generations from the industrial revolution who knew of no other way to raise a family. The paradigm was shifting under the father+s feet, and he knew of no other life.
So _October Sky_, far from being merely a feel-good inspirational film, offers much food for thought. And this is the best type of inspirational film; the one that you take something with you.
BTW, the final image of the film is just as simple, is as strong a contrast as the aforementioned horizontal-moving white dot against the night-sky background. Another commonplace image, to be sure, but it must have been breathtaking forty years ago.
Nick Scale (1 to 10): 9
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