Bored in space

Whatever the difference between this later book by Andy Weir, without having read either, the critical view (and very much mine) is that The Martian, starring Matt Damon, was a bit better - maybe quite a bit. You'll still get science being put back in science fiction, you'll get loneliness in space, and you'll get humor. Matt has been swapped out for Ryan Gosling but you've got the great Sandra Hüller as the only other important human. And you're got an engaging, thought-provoking story about saving the world.

But this new film never wants to end. Is the hero going to die light years away from Earth or get an unplanned (but implausible) return, or will he opt to save the giant ET- like space buddy "Rocky" (puppet and voice-artist James Ortiz) who is Grace's (the Gosling character's) main partner on screen most of the way? Stay tuned. Or have the courage to walk out. Or wait till later - missing your chance to watch some weirdly gorgeous big screen visuals - and hit the fast-forward button at your leisure on your home screen. Those are your options. And they're better than Grace's.

The Martian was directed by that old pro Ridley Scott - he who gave us Blade Runner, Alien, and Thelma and Louise. For Hail Mary Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were at the helm. Weir this time was heavily involved in the production, while he was kept out of work on The Martian. I have it on good authority that the film is "remarkably faithful" to the book this time. Is that why it feels so long, even though iti's only ten minutes longer? Even though Hail Mary reportedly has fewer flashbacks than the book, flashbacks just work more easily in books than in movies, ahd Hail Mary feels like it has a heck of a lot of them. It's a fair contrast to say that the pair directing this new film winds up contrasting the goofy elements and the sentimental ones of Weir's writing more while Ridley Scott kept them more integrated.

Ryan Gosling's character is another of Andy Weir's inventions and an engaging sort of antihero hero, a hero very much malgré lui. He's a brave individualist of a scientist who turns out also to be extraordinarily resourceful. Apart the difference in directorial style it's obvious Weir was doing something bolder here. The whole story strains the imagination to its limits, but maybe sci-fi should do that.

Meet Weir's creation the Astrophage, a single-celled, space-faring organism that breeds in the sun's corona and then breeds again in Venus' atmosphere, eating energy and dimming the sun. They're multiplying and in a matter of decades the cooling of the sun will deplete available food and kill off a lot the planet, and it's happening all over the universe, except on one faroff planet, Tau Ceti. Ryland Grace is a gifted scientist who was defrocked a while back for predictions about this the scientific community didn't share. As we first encounter him in flashbacks he's working as a middle school science teacher. Eva Stratt (Hüller) is the head of a great mission, the titular Project to send a spaceship to check out Tau Ceti.

When the movie actually begins Grace is waking from an years-long induced coma after the spaceship's lengthy Tau Ceti-bound flight. He doesn't even know who or what he is at first. And worse yet, the ship's two other crew members have died and he's alone. But boy does he recover.

Then along comes Rocky, who when he emerges from his alien vehicle turns out to look like a thick-limbed giant spider with no head that behaves something like a monkey but is super-smart, and of course sweet. There are indeed elements of ET ramped up to the max. The relationship is silly, touching, charming, very implausible (an "interspecies buddy comedy" Justin Chang calls it), but they make this not just a story for sci-fi nerds but for everyone. Here I'd like to put in a plug for Duncan Jones' little 2009 sci-fi meditation of a guy stuck in space, Moon. The special effects and visuals in Project Hail Mary are spectacular and beautiful, sometimes with a sort of ugly-beautiful quality. They are rich and entertaining but often seem hard to read.

Perhaps this reflects new higher expectations and made me miss 2001: A Space Odyssey, still the greatest sci-fi movie ever made, where the deep mysteries may be imponderable, but the action is clear and accessible. At one point we were expected to read the responses of Rocky on a little screen attached to his capsule, but that's only one of Hail Mary's difficulties. It wouldn't hurt to read the book before watching this film. It's not only silly and implausible, but also challenging and smart. It's not a classic but it may inspire viewers to go back and watch both classics and other recent sci-fi movies such as Claire Denis' High Life or Nolan's Interstellar. It might even inspire you to go back and watch Gosling twenty years ago in Half Nelson, when he also was a schoolteacher, one who was a crack addict by night. He doesn't need crack this time, though there are some bags of vodka on board for a minute. He still looks awfully young, but I guess that's what people like.

Project Hail Mary, 156 mins., was screened at El Cerrito Rialto Cinema for this review Mar. 19, 2026. It opens wide in the US Mar. 20. Metacritic rating: ̶7̶8̶%̶ 77%. Despite this, and my lack of enthusiasm, Project Hail Mary is considered a strong potential Oscar contender, with early buzz labeling it a masterclass, a critical hit (95% Rotten Tomatoes), and a commercial success. It's touted for nominations in Best Picture, Best Actor, and various craft categories like VFX. Release date of course is not a plus.

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©Chris Knipp. Blog: http://chrisknipp.blogspot.com/.