Project Hail Mary

Over a decade after Matt Damon scienced out of Mars, Ryan Gosling sciences the sun out of oblivion in Project Hail Mary, another film screenwriter Drew Goddard adapted from an Andy Weir novel. Let's see what I thought about Phil Lord & Chris Miller's results.

Ryland Grace (Gosling) wakes up on the spaceship Hail Mary, woozy and amnesiac. He soon realizes that he's been sent to stop the microscopic Astrophage from blotting out the sun within thirty-years. Since the Astrophage haven't touched the local star Tau Centi, the Braintrust figured out that a solution is over there. Everyone else is dead, so it's up to Grace to save the day ...

He's not alone for long. An alien spaceship shows up, and Grace makes first contact with its lone occupant, a rock-spider from the Eridani Star System, whom he names Rocky (James Ortiz). The Eridians also have an Astrophage problem, so Rocky and Grace team up to save their planets. It doesn't take long for the two of them to communicate and survive in each other's atmospheres. But one misstep could fumble it all up. 

Throughout the film, Grace’s life on Earth unfolds in flashbacks as he pieces together his mission. A big chunk of it has Grace try to convince Braintrust head Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) that he's the wrong man for the job ("the not in Astronaut."). His whole mystery pretty much hinges on how they got him aboard. You'll be stunned by the answer, but it takes quite a while to get there, considering that this movie is 156 minutes long. It often feels longer, especially in its forty-minutes, where we have mostly just Grace by himself. We get to know his human co-starts a bit better down the line. While the cold, yet sympathetic Stratt is easily the standout, the doomed crewmates are mostly just there.

You can probably infer that Rocky is this film’s biggest asset, and you’d be right. Sure, Gosling’s performance is fun, which makes the slowness bearable, but it’s even better with Rocky. While their first contact is treated with reverence, everything else is mostly played for laughs once he and we get to know Rocky's exuberant personality. t’s pretty refreshing with how the two of them become friends and allies. They have no time for extensive quibbles, other than slight culture shock, or even a third-act misunderstanding. I call this tone optimistically pragmatic. Their chemistry is all the more tangible due to Rocky being an on-set puppet, with little digital touch-ups. You’ll be moved when the two of them risk their lives to save the other.

Let’s talk about the technicals a bit more. With Greig Fraser as the cinematographer, we’re treated to perhaps the most stunning depiction of space since Interstellar. The first appearance of Rocky’s gigantic ship against the relatively small Hail Mary is a highlight. Its other highlight is Grace’s spacewalk above the glowing green planet Tau Ceti e (aka Adrian). The spaceship designs are pretty neat, especially with their practical sets designed by Charlie Wood. Rocky's native chirping is the most unforgettable part of the sound design, even if everyone can't stand it. Even better on the ears is the soundtrack, which consists of an epic Daniel Pemberton score and a few fun needle drops.

If only the real world was as optimistically pragmatic as Project Hail Mary. Despite its issues, its technical goodness, Gosling's performance, and delightful tone, make it worth the space odyssey. It's way better than taking in the day's usual news. You have to see it on the biggest screen you can find and make it soon. I think I said enough.