I was so ready to see Project Hail Mary the weekend it came out. I read the book last year as part of a faculty book club where I work, and we were all looking forward to the movie. I showed my girlfriend the trailer, and even though she hadn’t read the book, she also decided she wanted to go. Then we did something we never do and ordered some tickets in advance for an open caption showing (she needs that, and I don’t mind it) a day or two early. Usually, with her schedule, we don’t get tickets until the day of, often on the spot. So, here we are, all ready to go…and she gets sick.
She was well enough, and the local AMC had another open caption showing, so we got to the movie a week later than originally planned. I think it all worked out in the end.
Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship. He is alone as the other two crewmen are dead. He doesn’t remember much of anything right away, and then he learns he is near a star that is light-years away from Earth. As he looks around and reteaches himself things, he gradually remembers his life back on Earth where he was a middle-school science teacher after controversy cost him his academic career. The sun, apparently, is dimming thanks to microscopic alien life called astrophage, and this micro is feeding off the sun’s energy, causing the Earth to slowly cool. Grace’s research into potential alien biology gets him recruited by strict administrator, Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) for Project Hail Mary, a longshot conglomeration of various world governments looking for a way to stop the astrophage from eating the sun.
Out in space, Grace’s memories gradually come back, but he soon encounters a second ship from another alien world, one where it’s sole crew member, a five-legged, spider-like alien who Grace soon names “Rocky” (James Ortiz) on basically the same mission from his own planet. The two bond, becoming friends, but they both have a job to do. Both Earth and Rocky’s homeworld need help, but as Grace remembers his life before he left Earth, he isn’t even sure how he got out there or what the two of them need to figure out. Rocky is basically just a builder. Grace is a scientist. Neither is a pilot. Fortunately, they work well together. Will that be enough?
OK, here’s a question: why was this movie put out in March? It’s excellent. Maybe a little too smart for blockbuster summer fare, and maybe not quite what someone would figure is awards-caliber work, but Phil Miller and Christopher Lord did a great job directing, adding a good deal of great humor as the movie went along, and screenwriter Drew Goddard has adapted Andy Weir’s work before. Gosling is a reliable screen presence. About the only issue I had was I didn’t care for the music score that much. Not the pop songs inserted as needed, but the score itself, and that may be because the music seemed extra loud to my girlfriend and I (maybe that’s what happens at the open caption shows, or maybe that’s what you get for sitting on the back wall). And that is such a minor issue that I almost feel bad for saying anything. Almost.
Really, the heart of the story is the connection between Grace and Rocky. Rocky, played here by a puppet, is great, a character that learns to emote without having a face, and Gosling will make you believe his best friend is a rock-spider. These are two guys out in the middle of nowhere from two different species who require two different atmospheres, and it just works that these two are friends. Rocky isn’t a pet or a sidekick. He offers some ideas, but saving their stars is a team effort as there are things Grace can do that Rocky can’t and vice versa. It really makes the story what it is, and the movie gets that relationship exactly right.
Grade: A-
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