‘Ad Astra’ Review

July 15, 2020 Gabriel

Any artist who gives a shit about what they do is going to be something of a dreamer, forever grasping at what is always just a hair out of reach. They are people who chase their dreams, for better or worse, and often recklessly so. As such, there are plenty of movies, books, and plays about the cost of these dreams and the toll they take on those who achieve them. Few works literalize these themes as well as James Gray’s latest, Ad Astra. The movie is something of an Apocalypse Now in space, although rather than chronicling one man’s descent into a jungle representing the cruelty of mankind, it follows a man’s journey into the vacuum of outer space, working as an excellent metaphor for the desperate loneliness and isolation that comes with blind ambition and is a central feature of American life.

Brad Pitt delivers a strong, subtle, and introspective performance as hot shot astronaut Roy McBride, a man capable of no real emotion who has suppressed his humanity to the point of being unable to relate or connect to anyone. He is sent on a mission to locate his long-lost father (Tommy Lee Jones), a space pioneer and suspected terrorist who may or may not actually be alive on the far edge of the solar system. As Roy travels from planet to planet, he slowly begins to unravel the causes of his own isolation and the blind devotion to dreams that destroyed his father’s life and damaged his own. Few movies translate the hero’s inner psychological journey into the physical realm as well as Ad Astra, although that comes at the price of being a little too on-the-nose at times.

The cinematography and sound design is top tier. The shots are good looking without ever being flashy and the compositions do well to serve the larger thematic narrative. Roy is constantly bounded by frames within frames, viewed through or obscured by glass and water. Other people are frequently held out of focus. Sounds are muffled and buffered by heavy space suits. All this serves to exemplify his isolation. Ad Astra works so well, in fact, that it makes one feel lonely just watching it and, at least in this regard, it’s a masterclass in visual and aural storytelling. The score is great as well, always circling the edge of the viewer’s awareness, enough for you to notice that it’s good without ever being intrusive. This quality extends to the editing, which has the effortlessness of classic films from the 1940s and 1950s.

Ad Astra’s largest flaw is its over-reliance on voice over and characters openly telling the viewer what they are thinking, which can get pretty annoying. This makes Ad Astra something of a small step back from Gray’s previous effort, the woefully underrated The Lost City of Z. Also, for some, the psychological themes of the movie may not be profound or ground-breaking enough to justify the lengthy journey and sense of self-importance the movie has, but it all worked well for me, especially considering their timeliness. I should also mention that there is a fair amount of wonky science, but the film never comes close to Interstellar levels of ridiculousness in that department. So, unless you are an astrophysicist or just extremely anal-retentive, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Currently, Ad Astra isn’t making that much money, which is a shame. 2019 has been an awfully weak year for movies, but this one is a real gem and, if anything, I hope you go see it and give it a fair shake.