Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain, Mackenzie Foy, Matt Damon, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn, John Lithgow, David Oyelowo, Collette Wolfe, Wes Bentley, Casey Affleck, Timothée Chalamet, Francis X. McCarthy, Bill Irwin, William Devane, David Gyasi, Josh Stewart, Leah Cairns, Liam Dickinson.

All of a sudden, Space is sexy again and deservedly so. The last year or so has seen such a surge in interest in what lays beyond our planet that it is no small wonder that any film coming along, any programme, obviously fronted by Brian Cox, that uses the backdrop of the seemingly vast emptiness beyond our sight is bound to have audiences excited. The latest film starring the intrepid Matthew McConaughey certainly adds to melting pot of innate Human wonder and Interstellar is not shy in revelling in its brilliance, its clever use of science and out of breath enthusiasm to impart knowledge that might get the idea of space being explored being discussed again.

A world in which the only source of food that is still growing is corn, a world in which has become a dustbowl and ravaged by the sheer weight of humanity clinging upon its face is one that is perhaps very near the knuckle for many to see the comparisons. It is a world where farmers, perhaps with little or no further schooling, are more and more seen as a commodity and in which disgracefully the education system has seen fit to call the whole space race of the 1960s and 70s a sham, something that didn’t happen. It is a draconian piece of law making that surely has right minded people spitting out their corndogs in disgust.

For Cooper, Matthew McConaughey in his second starring role in a piece of undisputed true royal cinematic excellence in under a year, space was in his blood and it that search for an answer that makes him leave his family.

Interstellar sees some truly excellent performances from what is an outstanding cast. Aside from Matthew McConaughey giving yet again a superb lesson in acting ability, Jessica Chastain as the middle aged Murphy excels, William Devane charms the screen with utter humility and Michael Caine just never seems to put a foot wrong in a film in which his very presence is of the highest order. With Matt Damon and Topher Grace in surprisingly supporting roles, Interstellar is a film of utter refinement and one in which your jaw will keep hitting the floor causing a deep cavernous groove to start
appearing in the floor of your local cinema.

This is a film where the themes of time and its effects on the human psyche, of loneliness and abandonment all converge into one enormous film that in days gone by would have had people writing the word epic after it. It is a natural successor to the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey and sits extremely well alongside Gravity as opening the eyes of the next generation of hopeful adventurers in regards of Humanity’s next logical step.

Ian D. Hall