Gravity
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Released by Warner Bros.
Sandra Bullock gives us the performance of her life in a film that didn’t have a single impact on mine whatsoever.
Imagine being thrown around the nothingness of space, presented with only blackness and silence, listening only to the sound of your deep, panicked breathing as you face the fear of humanity—we are alone in the universe.
This describes only the beautiful look and feel of Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity. Unfortunately, the storyline is as dry and lifeless as the space it depicts.
Bullock gives it her all as she portrays Ryan Stone, a young doctor whose first time in space is cut short when debris from a Russian space station casts her and her partner, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) adrift in space.
But don’t get too excited about Clooney, ladies—if you blink behind your 3D glasses, you miss him.
The gorgeous 3D graphics are worth the extra three bucks alone but the realistic stillness of dead space sometimes works against the ambiance. In a loud crowded theatre, a cough or sneeze cuts through the whole “silence-in-space” mood like a shout in a library.
Despite my higher hopes, the trailer pretty much gave away everything exciting about the film.
At only 91 minutes, there isn’t enough time to get to know the characters, let alone relate to them, and it feels like a short story trying to disguise itself as a movie. It shows you the terrifying reality of space, and may teach you a thing or two about space travel, but otherwise it’s a visual masterpiece that drifts silent and lifeless.
Cuarón should be grateful for hiring Bullock as his lead. Her amazing performance (against nothing but a green screen) saves the film. Just by doing her one-woman Major Tom, Bullock makes you feel the gravity (no pun intended) of her situation. She will have you grabbing the armrests as if you plummet through space with her.
See Gravity and you’ll find the visual effects and Sandy B out of this world. The plot, however, will have you crashing back to earth.
