October Sky **1/2 rated PG starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern written by Lewis Colick based on the book "Rocket Boys" by Homer H. Hickam Jr. directed by Joe Johnston
There is a certain character we've seen many times before in American cinema. He is the unlikely hero; a boy who perseveres enough to pursue his dreams. In OCTOBER SKY, that character is Homer Hickam. The movie is based, however loosely, on Homer's autobiography, "Rocket Boys". It is the story of a boy from Coalwood, West Virginia, who witnesses the launching of Russia's Sputnik rocket into the October sky in 1957, and is immediately obsessed with building one of his own. In an early scene, Homer, not cut out for football, tries out for the team anyway, and recieves a comment from his coach who tells him that he just doesn't give up. Homer doesn't make the team, but we have evidence that he is not an ordinary boy. That is why when he tells his parents that he wants to build a rocket, it comes as no surprise. Homer, influenced by a school teacher(Laura Dern), gets 3 friends, including the school nerd, Quentin(Chris Owen), to help him build this rocket. Soon, even after a few failed launches, they are the talk of the town. These nerds have become the new jocks. Cheerleaders skip a football game in order to cheer the rocket boys. Everyone in town is interested. Everyone, that is, except for Homer's father, John Hickam.
John is the head of the coal mining corporation that is the sole purpose of Coalwood. Only the football players get college scholarships; everyone else goes to work in the mines. John is very disappointed that Homer is interested in this "dumb rocket business", and wants him to follow in his footsteps. Homer, of course, wants to do something different, being the boy that he is. The father-son relationship at the heart of OCTOBER SKY works very well for most of the film, because of the great performance of Chris Cooper. Cooper, from John Sayles' LONE STAR, is used to playing roles in which he is a quiet outsider. His perfromance in OCTOBER SKY is exactly the opposite. As John, Cooper shows depth and talent rarely seen in big name actors. Relative newcomer Jake Gyllenhaal, whom I've had the pleasure of seeing in one of his school musicals, is also quite good, but he is outshined by Cooper.
>From what you have read above, you are probably under the impression that OCTOBER SKY is a excellent, moving film. But the sad truth is, OCTOBER SKY is predictable, melodramatic, and overly sentimental. There are moments in OCTOBER SKY in which I was thinking about just how much of Hickam's book was actually put into this film. This film is so predictable and by-the-numbers, that I kept hoping for some kind of originality to appear. Also, writer Lewis Colick(GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI) pushes all the wrong emotional buttons in trying to get us to like OCTOBER SKY. This wouldn't be all that disappointing in another movie, but watching this one, you can tell that there is a touch of greatness trying to break out of this sugary-sweet mess. But I have to give props to the producers of OCTOBER SKY, for showing us the first '99 film with even a little ambition. review by the Teenage Movie Critic akiva@excite.com www.angelfire.com/mo/film.html
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