The Martian

Released:  October 2^nd, 2015

Rated:  PG-13

Distributor:  20^th Century Fox

Starring:  Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aksel Hennie

Directed by:  Ridley Scott

Written by:  Drew Goddard

Personal Bias Alert:  loved the book, likes the cast

7.5 of 10

            It must’ve been hard to decide on a release date for The Martian.  It staunchly doesn’t fit into traditional categories, proving far too light to be an awards season contender, too sciency to be a blockbuster, and too sprawling to be a thriller.  These oddities can be traced directly back to the book’s author, Andrew Weir, who first self-published the story chapter by chapter for free on his personal website.  Without the influence of editors or the publishing gristmill, Weir was free to craft the story as he pleased, and his chosen blend of hard science fiction with survival grind struck a chord with readers.  A legit publishing deal and a long stay on the New York Times bestseller list led to this most improbable situation:  a big-budget movie adaptation with an A-list cast and a legendary director.

            The story itself is a blend of the extraordinary and the mundane, following the world’s attempt to save an astronaut stranded on Mars.  It’s extraordinary to think of a man alone on an entire planet, while it’s mundane in the logistics and coordination.  This is a 100 million dollar movie that features a PR spokesperson, physics, chemistry, and potato farming.  It’s not edge-of-your-seat thrills, but for most of us, the endless strategy meetings and the small victories will hit closer to home than Ethan Hunt taking down mysterious international criminals.  Because of this familiarity, there’s moments in The Martian that hit you like an emotional sledgehammer, without warning making you realize how much you’ve connected with astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon).  This realism, a hallmark of hard science fiction, is the film’s greatest strength, and it’s something that audiences are clearly clamoring for.

            Coming in just behind this highlight is the extraordinary performance by Matt Damon.  He must pull off the smart, optimistically dark-humored astronaut with no one to play off of, not even a sentient computer like HAL or GERTY.  It’s hard to think of anyone besides Damon who could command the screen and make you care so deeply for a man without the manipulative trappings of a wife and kids left behind.  In fact, you only get a brief mention of his parents back home, and the connection you form with Watney is directly due to Damon’s vivacious performance.

            The rest of the star-studded cast breeze in and do their jobs, all of them correctly choosing to appear as average joes supporting the extraordinary Watney.  There’s almost no plot outside of the struggle to save the astronaut, which becomes both a strength and a weakness for the film.  The upside is that the story focuses on its strongest aspect:  the convoluted problems that must be worked through to even have a chance at saving him.  The downside is that there’s nothing to back that mystery up.  If, as many have, you’ve already read the book, then you’ll know all the solutions and problems that crop up along the way.  It’s still a pleasant ride to see it all play out, but without anything additional to sink your teeth into, the film feels a bit flat for long periods of time.  You’ll likely feel the same way if you attempt to watch the film multiple times, which will greatly affect the film’s staying power.

            Director Ridley Scott, who’s had lots of experience filming space movies, gives the film a solid if uninspired visual palette.  The rocky redness of Mars is occasionally beautiful, but in adhering to the book’s spirit of accuracy, the space stations were designed to look cleanly familiar.  As an offset to this occasional beauty, there’s also occasional stumbles on small things like the simulated weightlessness of space, evening out any high points and leaving Scott’s contributions rather unremarkable.  The visuals simply aren’t enough to demand rewatching, fitting in with the rest of the film’s one-off greatness.

            Most filmgoers will likely find The Martian to be a crowd-pleasing mystery populated by likable characters in an extraordinary setting.  They won’t catch on to the only other thing this film has to offer, which is a subtle love letter to space exploration and the wonders of science.  This element is much more prominent in the book, and as wonderful as it is that it remains here at all, its diminishment lessens the film as a whole.

Other Notes:

Ø  I’ve heard some pessimistic rumblings about the involvement of the Chinese space program.  This plot point is present in the book and serves to emphasize the cooperation that large scientific efforts encourage.  The fact that people don’t pick up on this proves how detrimental the downplayed pro-science stance becomes.

Ø  Drew Goddard was initially going to direct this.  I’m curious what his film would have looked like.

Ø  Spoiler alert:  Sean Bean doesn’t die.

Ø  That’s all I’ve got.  Now I need to go science the shit out of something.

Z for Zachariah

Released:  August 28^th, 2015

Rated:  PG-13

Distributor:  Roadside Attractions

Starring:  Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Pine, Margot Robbie

Directed by:  Craig Zobel

Written by:  Nissar Modi

Personal Bias Alert:  likes Zobel, can handle a slow pace

9 of 10

            What a wonderfully unusual little film.  A thriller with no action, a post-apocalypse with no explanation, and a faith with no judgement.  That’s only scratching the surface of this little gem from director Craig Zobel, whose previous film, Compliance, was another thriller that pushed people in all the right ways.  Zobel doesn’t make easy films, that’s for sure, but he does portray some of the smartest and most riveting dives into human nature, a man who seems to be part psychologist and part auteur.

            Z for Zachariah is about the tentative interactions between three strangers stranded in a protected valley after a nuclear event.  Survivors seem to have been few and far between immediately after the event and now are all but gone.  The girl, Ann (Margot Robbie), has lived in the valley her whole life and is startled by the appearance of Loomis (Chiwetel Ejiofor).  They are two quite different people, she a young preacher’s daughter and he an accomplished civil engineer, but they ban together all the same.  Eventually, Chris Pine’s Caleb enters the mix, and their carefully constructed life is thrown into disarray.

            That’s not to say that Caleb is a bad guy; Ann and Loomis are cautious with him, but they are cautious with each, as well.  Who the two men really are is what drives the narrative tension, and the literal inescapability of their situation keeps the question ever-present.  What would happen if even one of them shows a dark side could be devastating, the thought of which keeps all three survivors constantly on guard and in check.  The sort of complex, distinct personalities that each one of them brings to the table, along with the unspoken perils of their relationship, could only be pulled off by a team at the top of their game, and lightning was caught for Zachariah.  Zobel, as already mentioned, is a delicate director when it comes to molding such material, and writer Nissar Modi, with only her second produced screenplay, shows an incredible ear for minimal but loaded dialogue.  On the technical side, cinematographer Tim Orr captures their mountainous Eden with a cold beauty, and Heather McIntosh adds a prominent score that keeps the tension simmering.  Ejiofor and Pine knock it out of the park in roles that are very close to their usual type, but it’s Robbie who really pins the whole thing down.  What’s left of the world comes to revolve around Ann, and Robbie must make this fully-formed person a vessel for all the film’s conflicts.  That she manages this without making the audience turn on her is astounding, and it’s one of the best (and most complicated) performances by an actress this year.

            The film does take its time letting these dynamics play out, and the slow style will certainly turn off some.  But those who do like this sort of deep dive will find a rich social palette playing out before them, and the microcosm this little trio becomes delves into the good and the bad that society has to offer.  The ending is a slight disappointment, trailing off to a conclusion that seems too easy when compared to the rest of the film.  Still, the meaning of that last scene, like the earlier parts of the film, isn’t entirely clear.  Your own judgements will come into play, and a film that lays out so many aspects of humanity while still allowing you the space to react is a challenge well worth taking.

Other Notes:

Ø  It’s not all as serious as I make it seem.  There’s some majorly funny lines:  “Even at the end of the world she isn’t going to drink no damn cherry soda!”

Ø  I wouldn’t change a single thing before the last fifteen minutes.

Ø  This isn’t playing in a theater near me, so I caught it on demand.  I’ve watched it twice, and the film doesn’t fade on the second viewing.