Project Hail Mary

“Project Hail Mary” is everything we hope for in a movie, filled with intelligence, humor, heart, and hope. If we are going to spend much of the run-time with one actor, there couldn’t be a better choice than Ryan Gosling, who is a quintessential American boy-you-wish-lived-next-door hero, with self-deprecating humor, and the superpower of the scientist trifecta: boundless curiosity, problem-solving skill, and extensive knowledge of the physical properties and the organic world. Those three qualities overlap and enhance each other. If curiosity is your foundational mode of thought, there is no room for fear. And knowledge and not panicking help a lot with problem-solving.

Gosling plays an unassuming middle school science teacher named Ryland Grace. In a brief classroom scene we learn two things. First, he loves teaching and inspires his students. Second, as the students ask him questions about rumors and bits of news reports they’ve heard, there may be an existential threat in some changes to the sun. He does his best to answer honestly but reassuringly. And then, as he is about to ride home on his bicycle, he is quasi-Shanghaied by some mysterious but official-looking people. They are the ones monitoring the dimming of the sun and trying to figure out what is going on and how to stop it. The leader of this initiative is Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), perhaps selected for this role because of her ability to move forward, eliminating every consideration except whatever it takes to keep the planet alive.

Hüller and Gosling play very well off of each other as the resolute Stratt and the amiably goofy Grace. The middle school math teacher has a degree in molecular biology and was tossed out of academia for a theory that was so far outside of conventional belief it was considered not scientifically valid.

It is his openness to think outside conventional belief that makes him immediately valuable to Stratt. And eventually we will learn how that led to his being sent on an interstellar mission to find out why just one star has not been affected or infected and what that means for saving our sun. A karaoke scene where Stratt sings Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” brings them together for a brief respite from the overwhelming existential threat; it is a pivot point at the heart of the story.

Information about the past is revealed to us as Grace remembers it in pieces. He has been in an induced coma as he traveled through space. The other members of the crew have died. But he is not alone for long. He meets an alien who is there for the same purpose. They find a way to communicate, and they work together to save the stars.

The alien, a sort of spider-looking creature who looks like he/she/it/they is/are made out of rocks and so nicknamed Rocky, is utterly endearing to Grace and to us. They do have their adjustment problems. There is a scene that could be a sci-fi version of “The Odd Couple.” But the friendship that develops between them is immensely touching and the way they think through their challenges is hugely satisfying.

The production design by Charles Wood and special effects by a huge team are stunning. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are the brains and heart behind some of the funniest, smartest and most joyfully buoyant animated films of the past two decades, including “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” the “Spider-Verse” films, and “The LEGO Movie.” Their visual imaginations are witty, accessible, and thrilling. The score by Daniel Pemberton is excellent. And costume designers David Crossman and Glyn Dillon deserve a special award for Grace’s sweater, t-shirts, and glasses, which achieve the near-impossible in making Ryan Gosling look even more adorable and yet relatably human than we imagined.

Gosling contributes a lot to that as well, of course. He makes Grace just a little shrubby, but heroic in a way he does not realize. When he remembers something about his past near the end, when he is faced with a dire moral dilemma, when he finds a connection to Rocky that is more meaningful than any he has ever had before and realizes that connection is as important to saving both their planets as all the science and engineering they can draw on. Gosling does not just show us what Grace is feeling; he makes us feel it, too. His comic timing is impeccable, and he is just as good at the drama, the fear, and the adventure.

I do this job because in my heart I believe that movies are the culmination of every art form developed by humans, the greatest story-telling mechanism ever developed. “Project Hail Mary” makes use of every part of that story-telling capacity, a film that makes us feel good about the characters, about the people who devoted all of their skill to making it, and about being human.

Parents should know that this movie is about a threat that could destroy all life on Earth. Characters are in peril and some are killed. There is some mild languages and references to bodies and characters drink alcohol.

Family discussion: If you woke up in a spaceship, what is the first thing you would do? If you met Rocky what questions would you ask?

If you like this, try; the book by Andy Weir and the book and movie of “The Martian“