Ad Astra [IMAX]

A film about one man’s search for the meaning of his existence and his place in Life, and also about the relationship with his father and how parental influences affect us. A meditative, philosophical contemplation disguised as a space-opera action-adventure by James Gray in his most accessible film to date, think First Man by way of The Tree of Life with touches of Gravity and Solaris, and glimpses of Interstellar. Brad Pitt, in possibly his best film role to date, gave an engaging, immersive and sincere performance that was highly nuanced and incredibly affecting. A superb supporting cast, especially Ruth Negga, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and Liv Tyler, with stunningly gorgeous cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema and excellent music by Max Richter, make Ad Astra a clear, all-categories Oscar contender.

Gray directed and co-wrote this film which in essence was a simple story of boy looking for father. But through the 2-hours, we got an exploration into the boy and the man he became. The voice-overs may often be an easy - and cheap - trick to help propel narrative and expose a character’s emotional drive, but here, Gray effectively integrates organically most of the VOs into the story. However, it really was Pitt who sold the authenticity and sincerity of those moments. As Gray directed the tight close-ups of Pitt’s chiseled jaws, Pitt’s eyes were emoting and expressing the hell out of his monologues (think Elizabeth Moss’ June/Offred in those The Handmaid’s Tale close ups).

The film itself was incredibly well-paced. From an exciting prologue that deftly introduced our hero, it swiftly moved into the main narrative. Big set pieces followed one another swiftly that were brilliantly shot and edited to give the needed adrenaline surges and serotonin relieves. Backstory and character motivations were also smartly interlaced throughout without breaking the pace nor the momentum. Editors John Axelrad and Lee Haugen did a tremendous job!

Pitt was outstanding. Together with his work on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 2019 is proving to be his comeback year. And he is easily in contention for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominations. Although the win might more easily come from the latter depending on how the rest of the year unfolds. Pitt’s handsomeness was neither distracting nor a factor in his character. Yes, Gray focused a lot on Pitt’s face - he is almost always in a space suit with/without a helmet - but it is to Pitt’s credit that he sold it. We were immersed only in his character’s journey and experience, Pitt the actor sinks into the background. We sometimes forget that Pitt gave us 12 Monkeys, Benjamin Button, The Tree of Life, Burn After Reading and Moneyball - a career that has spanned almost 30 years and a multitude of different characters.

Negga, now finally done with Preacher, can start leveraging her Oscar nomination and venture into films. Her minimal screen time was both powerful and magnetic.

Jones and Sutherland, the old stewards, did some scenery chewing but never more than required. Their scenes with Pitt tended to support and not steal the spotlight from him.

Tyler, coming onto the film scene once every few years, was effective and still as beautiful. A great, ?intentional, throwback to Armageddon.

The cinematography by van Hoytema was gorgeous, echoing his works on Interstellar\ and Dunkirk. Those wide angle moments were sublime and the interior shots were claustrophobic when necessary but oddly open when required. That opening scene and the scenes on Mars and the climatic set piece were outstanding.

Richter scored the music and it was mood and atmospheric-appropriate. Not excessively rousing or orchestrated, nor new and imaginative, but more subtle and internalised; very closely tied to the emotional landscape of Pitt’s character.

Simply put, this was a great film. IMAX was definitely worth it and a repeat viewing is not out of the question.