A return to wonder

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, March 20th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a return to form in Hollywood.

The new film Project Hail Mary is a sci-fi adventure starring Ryan Gosling. It tells a refreshing, original story instead of copying what’s already out there.

Here’s WORLD reviewer Joseph Holmes.

JOSEPH HOLMES: “Why doesn’t Hollywood make movies like that anymore?” I hear people asking that question a lot nowadays, and they’re usually talking about movies like Braveheart or When Harry Met Sally, that praise self-sacrifice and love without irony. Now, every movie seems like it’s trying to be Marvel or some postmodern deconstruction. Project Hail Mary, however, feels like an answer. It’s an old-fashioned sci-fi blockbuster that’s deeply entertaining while unironically praising timeless virtues like friendship and self-sacrifice.

AI: Please state your name.

GRACE: Ryland Grace. I just woke up from a coma. I’m several light years from my apartment. And… I’m not an astronaut. I’m not an astronaut! I’m not an astronaut!

STRATT: If you don’t go you die. With the rest of us.

Based on the book by Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary follows science teacher Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, who wakes up alone on a spaceship with one mission: solve the mystery of the organisms that are killing Earth’s sun. While there, he meets an alien friend also trying to save his own world, and they have to learn to work together to save both of their species.

The best description I have for Project Hail Mary is it’s Interstellar meets The Martian meets E.T. It’s a refreshing film directed by the guys responsible for The Lego Movie and the Spider-Verse films, and it’s written by Drew Goddard–who previously adapted another popular Weir book, The Martian. This film deftly balances heroic spacefaring grandeur and grounded humor with smart, scientific problem-solving, and a touching interstellar friendship. It has plenty of humor without undermining its dramatic moments with jokes. The world is ending, but not because humans are destroying it. In fact, humans are the world’s only hope for survival. Ryland Grace is flawed without being a deconstruction of a hero. Human institutions are imperfect, but they aren’t secretly evil.

ROCKY: [Alien noises]

GRACE: You want me… to go back to my ship?

ROCKY: [Alien noises]

GRACE: But I just got here.

ROCKY: [Alien noises]

The filmmaking is stellar. Gosling carries much of the movie on his shoulders, whether he’s alone on the ship or acting opposite a CGI alien. And the movie never feels dull when it’s just him onscreen. The cinematography and editing convey both the vastness of space and the intimate moments of human (and alien) connection.

STRATT: The sun is dying. You are the only scientist who might know what this is.

GRACE: I’m just a teacher at Grover Cleveland Middle.

STRATT: You have a doctorate in molecular biology.

One pleasant surprise here that screenwriter Drew Goddard often brings into his stories is faith. One character says they will succeed “God willing” and insists that believing in God is better than the alternative. It’s a small moment that keeps the film from being a purely secular glorification of man’s achievements to one where people choose to be part of God’s plan of redemption. (Something Interstellar never did.)

GRACE: So… I met an alien. He’s a genius engineer. And if I can’t understand him he puts on a puppet show for me and my tiny brain. And you know? I don’t mind it. His planet’s dying too. We’re here for the same reason.

This idea that heroes need help to be heroes is also a major theme and is handled in a surprisingly complex—and even Christian—way. Grace is a smart man with a hero inside him. But he requires the encouragement—and sometimes bullying—of his ranking superiors to bring that out of him. Yet Grace isn’t a passive character being carried along to virtue. Throughout, he makes real choices to be the best version of himself.

GRACE: He has incredible hearing. He can see through walls. Personal space is at a premium.

ROCKY: Who is Grace talking to, question?

GRACE: There’s no way you can hear me.

ROCKY: Can hear. Who are you talking to?

GRACE: You can hear this?

ROCKY: Yes. Grace say: you can hear this.

The movie is rated PG-13. As such, there is some violence and profanity as well as some crude comments. There are also a few storytelling weaknesses. The third act of this 2-hour-48-minute film drags a bit with what seems like five different climaxes. The final climax feels a bit lightweight for a movie all about sacrifice. And because the film’s bad guys are just bacteria, the film is most interesting when the heroes are bantering or strategizing about how to solve the problem. It gets duller when they’re actually facing down the threat in a generic Hollywood action sequence.

In an age of sequels, remakes, and cynically subversive films, Project Hail Mary is a reminder of how good Hollywood can be. Hopefully, the box office proves that audiences still want this kind of film, too.

I’m Joseph Holmes.

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