"The Astronaut Farmer" (2007) - Movie Review

When someone says that they want to launch a rocket in their backyard and the person seems to be around the age of 40, there goes all alarms. It is a nice fantasy filled dare of Charlie Farmer in the movie, “The Astronaut Farmer” that he wants to launch a rocket in his barn. Billy Bob Thornton plays Charlie Farmer, Virginia Madsen as his wife Audie and there are all the regular people who play the “head” of any government agency.

Charlie Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) who had all the trainings to be an astronaut is not in military. He is looking after his ranch and leading a happy family life. He nurtures the family with his dream of traveling in space and quite literally builds the dream in his property. The movie starts off when Charlie is trying to purchase a sufficient amount of fuel. This rings up bells for the US government. Then they come to discourage and everyone discourages but his family supports, he gives up and gets encouragement and….That’s it. The viewers are smart enough to get all the details which are not spread out here.

Some call it “October Sky – Part – II” but it does not even come near to the movie starring Jake Gyllenhall as the young kid who fights his life of flying rockets in the middle of a nowhere coal mines. Granted that this movie surges itself to promote aspirations, dreams and hope. Everyone knows it and aware of it, and also seen tons of other movie projecting those brilliantly. The film fails not due to the fact of improper movie making but it is an ordinary film making. It is extremely ordinary. In fact, with sufficient movie watching experience, some regular movie goers could easily guess the next line coming out of some character. Predictability is enjoyed when it is welcomed for some relief in a tight intense circle of events. The movie fails to create that at various instances. In the middle of it, there was a very nice surprise but it lasted for ten minutes and faded off.

Billy Bob Thornton as Charlie Farmer is very good as the loving and inspiring father but not able to bring out the Astronaut in him. For some reason, the viewers always gets the feeling that this guy does not know what he is doing, but the whole movie gives proof that he has sufficient knowledge in all of it. It is quite a strange sensation to have that even after so much substantiation. Virginia Madsen fits the character picture perfect. Right combination of beautiful and charming wife, who is also a loving mother, provides nice opportunity for her to perform. She does well. I did not know that Hollywood too has some “surprise actor” formula attached to its movie now a day. Bruce Willis is the winner for the guest star and there is no proper reason for him to be in this movie.

Editing – Ordinary, Music – Ordinary, Screenplay – Predictably Ordinary.

“The Astronaut Farmer” could have been an inspiring and goose pump invoking film as that of “October Sky”. Even with all the ordinary features, it could have sailed on to reach far beyond the skies if the director of the movie Michael Polish would have employed some novel methods. The movie is not bad but it is bland. Bland to the core.