Yesterday my mom suggested that we all go see Space Cowboys. Not one to turn down a free movie, I accepted, thinking all along that Space Cowboys is a stupid name for a movie. It was a good treat. I needed a laugh or two.
Plot
I couldn’t follow the names of the characters, so I’ll just use the actors. NASA has a problem. A Russian satellite is in a decaying orbit. For *some* reason this satellite is very important to them and as a sign of good faith the President agrees to fix the satellite’s orbit. After engineers ponder the out-dated 1960’s code that determines its flight path, the Director of NASA realizes they have only one chance to save this satellite: ask the designer for help.
The problem is that the Director once passed over Clint Eastwood, the satellite’s programmer, in favor of a monkey as the first “American” in space. To this day Eastwood holds a grudge. As repayment, Eastwood agrees to fix the problem—but only if he and an early Air Force experimental pilots team, Team Dateless, can go up and fix the satellite themselves. So the Director has no choice but to agree on sending up four men in their seventies to fix a satellite that is important for some reason…
Analysis
The problem with Space Cowboys is its classification: Action/Adventure. What’s wrong with A/A movies David? Nothing, if they are meant to fit that genre. Apparently, however, Mr. Eastwood lost focus and tried to make it half Comedy, half A/A. It blew up in his face (no pun intended). Yeah, the movie starts off riotously funny (well, I thought so). Yeah, it’s great when the young astronauts send a “waiter” over to Dateless in the cafeteria with cans of Ensure ™, and when the next day Dateless sends them baby food and picture books. Yeah, it’s funny when two members of Dateless try to see who passes out first in the centrifuge.
Yeah, it’s cool when the “action” actually starts. Yes it’s touching when the poignancy (watch it and see) happens. Yeah, it’s edge-of-the-seat when the astronauts are in reentry and are trying to land a flying brick. But there are two clear halves of Space Cowboys. One begins with the NASA engineers telling the Director that he must call upon the maker of the guidance system. It ends when “Hawk” is diagnosed with cancer. Another section begins when the astronauts secure the satellite for repairs. As it ends so does the movie. In between Eastwood tries to mix poignancy. The net result was a movie that, while pleasant to watch, wasn’t unified in purpose or design. As such I can only give it three stars. I mean dots.
Four retired fighter pilots try to save a disabled satellite. What they have in common is they were all rejected by NASA in the 1960s. They get a seco...More at HotMovieSale.com
Product DetailsOriginal Title:Space CowboysActors: Clint Eastwood - Donald Sutherland - James Garner - Tommy Lee JonesCondition: USEDFormat: DVDDirec...More at iNetVideo.com
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