Do not go gentle into that good night. This is Dr. Brand’s (Michael Caine) inspiring speech to the astronauts of the Endeavor as they take off to explore a wormhole near Saturn in hopes of finding an inhabitable planet on the other side to save humanity from itself. It’s apt, for do not go gentle into this film, for you are in for a get wrenching, mind-bending, head-scratching journey. Before I get into the meat of my review, which will not be in-depth as not to give anything away, I want to warn you that no matter what you read below or how you perceive my review, you ultimately should go see this film. It’s 2 hours and 43 minutes, so make sure you are prepared – wear layers in case the theater is cold, bring some snacks (you can never go wrong with Combos), do not drink a lot of fluids beforehand and make sure your bladder is completely drained before a single frame commences. Then sink back into your chair and prepare to have your mind blown by Christopher Nolan in one way or another for the next 3 hours, for you will be cursing him infinitely after that.
There is a reason that I went to law school – I never quite grasped advanced mathematics, beginning with calculus, and I could have cared less for physics, and even less for quantum physics and the space-time continuum, except what I learned about it from Doc in Back to the Future. Unfortunately, I do not understand the theory of relativity or quantum physics with any more clarity after viewing Interstellar. Honestly, I just left the theater with more questions and tried to Google answers which I found in relatively small bits and pieces, mainly due to the fact that the plot of this film has been under lock and key since its Inception. (Oh see what I did there? haha).
So what is Interstellar about? I really can’t tell you more than you probably already know – the Earth is dying – sometime in the not so distant future there is just a steady blow of dirt. The wheat died and the blight came. The last crops of okra are being harvested before they are consumed by blight and all that is left is corn, and corn farmers. Enter Mr. McConnaughey as Cooper, a widowed (or is widowered?) farmer raising his 2 kids, Murph and Tom, along with his father-in-law, Donald (John Lithgow). It is alluded to that Cooper was a pilot in his early life and an engineer, but the excess of the 20th century has made it impossible for people to pursue fancy careers, such as engineering, in order to help keep the human race alive, so they do what needs to be done and grow and harvest the food.
In a fortuitous turn of events, Cooper and Murph discover that NASA is still operating, underground of course, because who has money to fund the experiment of space travel when people are starving? Since it just so happens that Cooper can pilot an aircraft he is recruited for a mission to save the human race. Dr. Brand Sr. convinces Cooper that if we can harness the power of gravity, he may be able to save everyone. I’m not really sure what he said or how it works, but I got the gist of it. So Cooper, Dr. Brand Jr. (Anne Hathaway), Dolye (Wes Bentley) and Romilly (David Gyasi) decide that their individual lives are not as important as at the future of humanity and leave everything that is near and dear to them on Earth. Their mission: enter a wormhole by 
Saturn, which in itself is a 2 year journey, to try to find scientists that previously undertook this mission under the name Lazarus, to see if the planets they may or may not have found in the other galaxy can sustain life. Now Dear Readers this is the place in the review where we leave the plot and any discussion on the questions the film asks the audience to consider…I can’t tell you anymore as I feel it would be a disservice to Mr. Nolan’s film 
and the whole experience of it. Okay, I’ll give you a teaser – the first planet they explore Kevin Costner was probably somewhere on it trying to find dry land, and on the second, I’m sure if they looked hard enough they could have found a Tauntaun to survive on if needed and may have found the abandoned Echo Base.
If the quantum physics goes over your head, should you spend your money for 3 hours of confusion? Yes! The movie overall is a brilliant film, even though if may make you feel dumb – the visuals and score by Hans Zimmer are worth the 
price of admission. Plus, trying to reconcile how spending 1 hour on a planet near a black hole is equivalent to 7 years on earth could be a fun brain bender for the days or weeks to come. It is one of those films that defies categorization in that is is just a good movie. It’s not all drama, not all sci-fi – it just is. Matthew is awesome – playing that everyday man experiencing extraordinary events without making you feel quite so dumb because he makes you feel. He coaxed more than one tear out of my eye in those 3 hours. However, you can’t view this film without being reminded of a similar movie of his about time travel in wormholes – Contact – an underrated movie that has been a personal fave since the first time I saw it. Lo and behold, in my Google research today, I learned that both movies are based on works by theoretical physicist Kip S. Thorne – who I can credit as the source for 100% of my 
knowledge about travel by wormhole and the relativity of time. I don’t think this role is going to garner Mr. McConnaughey his second gold statue, but that should not be a reason for skipping this film.
On the other hand, if you don’t like Anne Hathaway, and really, who does anymore after her “performances” during the 2012 awards season, she will not earn back that space in your heart after this film. So rest assured, we will not have to suffer through any of her grating acceptance speeches this year. In case you need a reminder of just how bad is was, check out this link: http://www.newnownext.com/anne-hathaway-acceptance-speech-oscars-awards/02/2013/. And one more tidbit to make you feel better, she developed 
hypothermia while shooting the scene above in Greenland because her space suit had a hole it in. She really does suffer for her work, and in case you forgot, she can sing live.
Finally, there is Jessica Chastain, a personal fave. She is the older Murph Cooper who still cannot accept that her dad left her to save the world when she was a little girl. In order to cope, she joins in the fight to survive and find an answer. Her performance is nuanced, full of grace and she can play hardened bitch as good as Julianne Moore. She doesn’t have much screen time so of course I just wanted more of her. I am still not satisfied with what I got.
Overall, spend a November afternoon in the dark wrapped up in the mind-bending Interstellar, ponder the black holes in the plot, if love transcends time and space, the emotions that make us human and if man is really his own worst enemy. Then re-emerge into the light shaking your fist screaming “Damn you, Christopher Nolan, damn you!”
Pittsburgh Movie Girl 