Gravity - 5 Reasons Why

Let me begin with a disclaimer: Do not see this movie if you have vertigo or a propensity for nausea.  However, if you’re generally cool with stuff that might make other people dizzy and tripped out, do yourself a favor and scoot on down to your movie theater this weekend. 

(Side note - Unless you love IMAX or 3D, I say don’t do it.  At my movie theater it was $6 extra for IMAX and 3D.  Just sit closer to the screen to make up for the IMAX, know that the stuff that’s supposed to look like 3D will probably jump out of the screen regardless of whether or not you wear those stupid glasses, and treat yourself to a popcorn with your $6 in savings.  You deserve it because obviously you’re a thrifty person who makes smart choices.)

One – This movie is a marvel of technology.  The movie takes place in space. Space has no gravity.  Obviously the film was not shot in space.  That technology has yet to be invented.  So just try to wrap your mind around that.  For the first few scenes of the film, it was all I could do to try and orient myself to the unpredictable bobbing and floating of the actors, as well as how they were positioned in each shot.  George Clooney and Sandra Bullock are upside down, sideways, and every which way including loose in the wide open void of space. 

Zero gravity equals zero predictability, and for all the scenes shot in open space, the movie kept my brain disoriented in a divinely wonderful way.

Two – Gravity will make your heart beat.   At points it feels like a horror movie, but with space as the indifferent and volatile antagonist.  Space doesn’t hide around corners or attack with hatchets and chainsaws, because it’s everywhere.  It’s infinite and dark.  Which leads me to my next point….

Three – I left the theater wondering about space for the first time since I was a wee one.  Space is terrifying in actuality, but thinking about it can feel electrifying. Gravity portrays space as unknowable and unforgiving, but has reverence for it as such.  Space is the source of all life, but paradoxically at the same time is inhospitable to all human life.  Keep an eye out for a striking homage to the iconic 2001 fetus scene.

(Side note – It’s somewhat ironic that this movie comes out only days after the government shutdown, and the furlough of the majority of the NASA program.  I feel like it has the power to spur an interest in interstellar research in people of all ages.  Or maybe it’s just me.)

Four – The two actors are stellar.  Yes.  Two.  Ed Harris makes a neat cameo as the voice from ‘Houston’, but basically it’s just Clooney and Bullock adrift in space.  Clooney is like a real life Buzz Lightyear, perpetually cheery and doggedly dedicated to the mission.

When you look at it this way, Buzz Lightyear is actually pretty sexy.

Bullock is simply mesmerizing.  I have been a life long fan of the Bullock.  I unabashedly love almost everything she’s been in – Miss Congeniality, Love Potion No. 9, and even The Net.  Yep.  That’s how much I love her.  I even love The Net. 

Now that my love for Sandy has been well established, I’ll say it.  She was adorably feisty in The Blind Side, but I don't believe she deserved an Oscar.  For this, she does.   It would be a crime if she didn’t at least receive a nomination.  Her performance transforms all of the bang zoom special effects in the film into a tangible reality.  Without her the movie would be a beautiful but sterile depiction of space with no heart. 

Five – Fire extinguishers in space are pretty awesome.  Just trust me on this one.