The Astronaut Farmer
by Michael Polish
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Billy Bob Thornton, Jasper Polish, Logan Polish, Max Thieriot, Virginia MadsenDirector: Michael Polish
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-10
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Astronaut Farmer
Movie Review: Horrible
Summary: 1 Stars
I first saw this movie so I could review it for my school paper, and was surprised by how dreadful it was. As the movie went on help but plan vitriolic remarks to put into the review, but allow me to make my case before you decide for yourself to see it.
Let us begin at the beginning shall we? The scene opens dramatically as Farmer (creative name eh?) rides through the fields on his horse. So far so good. But wait... what is that silver thing he's wearing? Apparently a homemade spacesuit which he tells the local kids he made out of parts he found in NASA's junkyard.
This is not ridiculous enough, so let us continue. This movie is supposedly about the potency of dreams, and I am all for that. To get this straight though, Farmer does not dream about going into space-he obsesses. He is building a rocket ship in the barn and has spread his obsession to other members of the family: his teenage son has planet bedspread and everyday at dinner the family plays "I'm going into space and I'm taking..." The overall effect is borderline cult-ish.
However, let us give Farmer the benefit of the doubt and say that he "dreams" about going into space. The message of the movie-that dreams come true- is dubious at best when it also apparently advocates taking any measures necessary to obtain said dream. Farmer puts his entire family into debt (without telling his wife) and threatens national security by possessing large quantities of rocket fuel.
Overall the movie is completely ridiculous, from its plot to its morals. Save your money and go watch a decent space movie.
Summary of The Astronaut Farmer
If you can give The Astronaut Farmer the big, bounding leap of faith it requires, you'll probably enjoy this good-natured film about the importance of holding on to your dreams. The title character (and the dreamer in question) is Charlie Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton), a Texas ranch owner and former aeronautics engineer who's got a homemade rocket in his barn and a dream to blast into space. Even though Charlie's deeply in debt and threatened with foreclosure, his wife (Virginia Madsen) and kids are deeply supportive of Charlie's Earth-orbit mission, even when he attracts the glaring attention of a seasoned Air Force colonel (played by Bruce Willis, in an uncredited role), the FAA, the FBI, and the national media. "If we don't have our dreams, we have nothing," says Charlie at a particularly desperate impasse, and this loopy, offbeat, and unabashedly sentimental drama embraces that message with disarming sincerity.Suspension of disbelief is a challenge when the movie glosses over so many of its logistical details (like, where does one buy an old NASA space capsule?), and in trying for a kind of Capra-esque, eccentrically Western spin on the American dream, the Polish twins--director Michael and cowriter/actor Mark (making their mainstream debut after such indie hits as Twin Falls, Idaho and Northfork)--are only marginally successful in making Charlie's ambition genuinely believable. The film works much better as a kind of post space-age fable for families, and it's just involving enough to make its climax emotionally rewarding, mostly because Thornton, Madsen, and their costars (including Bruce Dern and Tim Blake Nelson) handle the delicate material with the earnestness it needs to be marginally convincing. Elton John's "Rocket Man" is predictably heard over the closing credits (accordingly, Charlie's launch-time is "zero hours, nine a.m."), and at a time when several adventurous entrepreneurs (including Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos) are gradually developing a civilian space-flight industry, The Astronaut Farmer is an admirable yet forgivably flawed reminder that we should never stop reaching for the stars. --Jeff Shannon
All systems are "Go" for Charles Farmer. He's faced bank foreclosure neighborhood naysayers and a government alarmed by his huge purchase of high-grade fuel but now he's ready to blast into space inside the homemade rocket he built in his barn. Just be home in time for dinner Charlie. Billy Bob Thornton portrays Charlie in this charmer about chasing dreams...and about what it means to be a family. 10000 pounds of rocket fuel alone can't lift Charlie into the heavens. He needs a launch/recovery crew and he has one of the best: his wife (Virginia Madsen) and children dreamers all. They have liftoff. Our spirits have uplift. Gravity cannot hold down our dreams. The Astronaut Farmer is that kind of movie.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 012569822924 Manufacturer No: 82292
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