APOLLO 13
A film review by Melissa Martin
Copyright 1995 Melissa Martin
Starring Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, Bill Paxton Directed by Ron Howard Universal
There is a scene in the beginning of APOLLO 13 where the astronauts of the disastrous Apollo 1 mission are boarding the ship. During this short orientation sequence, I was awed, then gripped by suspense, and then moved to tears by tragedy. Not only does the whole movie play like this, it also adds appropriate amounts of humor, wisdom, and humanity.
The script is amazingly written. Facing the obvious difficulties of writing an entire story around technical jargon, the writers did a stunning job of making all the NASA lingo seem somehow completely intelligible. I was never lost for a second: indeed, as I walked out of the theatre, I was using most of the space-speak that they used in the film. Also difficult to pull off is a story that deals with one problem after another: in other movies with this type of anticlimatic flow, the audience often becomes bored. But this movie keeps you riveted with one suspense-filled climax after another. After every problem has been faced and solved, there is a lot of remaining tension that stops one from getting back into the flow of the movie. However, this was cleverly avoided by adding moments of whimsy, and some very humorous scenes that relieve the tension, so that you can be on the edge of your seat again when the next problem comes up. This movie can, at times, be extremely funny and delightful: this is well countered by the true thriller nature.
The story, guided by the tremendous directing talent of Ron Howard, becomes a touching story of humanity alone against the two greatest unknowns: death and the universe. The movie, while being an intelligent and well thought out thriller, also becomes a sentimental film about the limits of human ability ... and the ultimate human triumph.
Not one actor in the superb cast gives a mediocre performance. Tom Hanks is on the Oscar road again with his performance as Cmdr. Jim Lovell. This is Hanks at his versatile best. Appropriately showing his patented lovability (which is still endearing, unlike Meg Ryan's narcissistic cuteness), Hanks also takes on a new role for him: the dashing all-American hero. Moments of passion are beautifully complimented by a quiet, wordless, expressionless sorrow, and it is easy to see the feelings that lie beneath the stony, professional-NASA exterior. Under Hanks' guidance, Lovell becomes a person with astounding subtlety and range of emotions.
Gary Sinise, (whom I didn't personally rave over in FORREST GUMP) outdoes himself with a spellbinding performance as grounded astronaut Ken Mattingly. His emotions are so incredibly tangible that I was moved to tears (extremely rare for me ... this is the second movie I've *ever* teared up at) at one particularly touching scene of his. During much of the film, I felt horribly sorry for Mattingly. However, this is remedied by his later, amusing, smugness, and the fact that were he not grounded, the astronauts never would have been able to return home.
Kevin Bacon gives a good, solid performance as the hotshot pilot Jack Swigert. I've never held Bacon in much regard, so this was an extremely pleasant surprise. Even his character, who appeared to be the bitter, odd-man-out replacement pilot, was a likable character.
Ed Harris is wonderfully determined as the cantankerous mission controller, Gene Kranz. Kathleen Quinlan is touchingly real as Lovell's devoted but unsure wife, Marilyn, and all the supporting actors in mission control were real and wonderful.
The weakest performance, I felt, came from Bill Paxton as the ailing Fred Haise. While he was absolutely perfect as the joker during the first part of the film, as Haise became ill, so did Paxton's acting. However, I suspect that this was because he really didn't have much of a character to work with. But he still gives an easily above-average performance, and it in no way hurts the film.
The visual effects are absolutely stunning. During most of the film, I had an extremely difficult time believing that the sweeping, vertigo-inducing shots of the spacecraft were not real. The scenes of the earth and moon are so beautiful and sentimental to induce tears, or at least an amazed sigh.
One thing that is interesting to note is that even though everybody *knows* that the astronauts survived, it in no way lessens the suspense. You're still perfectly gripped in fear.
To sum it up, this is a brilliant, mature thriller (not like no-brainers like CONGO) as well as a serene, sentimental film. This is a film for anyone--for anyone who has ever lost their moon.
If it doesn't get Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, and at least one Best Supporting Actor, it will confirm my belief that there is something terribly wrong with the world. This is easily the best film to be released this year.
APOLLO 13 : A+, ***** out of 5
Melissa Martin
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