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As I watched the commercial for Space Cowboys a few weeks back, my first thought was "Grumpy Old Men in Space. Maybe you had the same reaction, but did you then also make a mental comparison to Pigs in Space, the great old Muppets sketch? If so, we should have dinner sometime.

My stream of consciousness begs the question--which is less plausible? Pigs orbiting the planet Earth, or the quartet of Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner? More importantly, which is more humorous? Your answer probably depends on how much you like Miss Piggy.

The movie Space Cowboys concerns a group of sixty-something men who missed out on their chance to go into space 40 years earlier. But through a series of circumstances involving a mysterious Russian satellite as well as the bull-headedness of Frank Corvin (Eastwood), the aforementioned astronauts finally get their opportunity. To director Clint Eastwood's credit, the inconceivable seems somewhat reasonable after just a few scenes.

The movie wisely glosses over the plot's particulars. Corvin is approached by NASA to help them fix the guidance system on a failing Russian satellite. Realizing this is his last chance, he blackmails NASA bureaucrat Bob Gerson (James Cromwell, Babe) into not only allowing him to go into space himself but take his three flying buddies with him. Gerson, whose sinister conversations with a Russian diplomat mark him as the movie's villain, agrees but only on the condition that each man pass the physical regimen. Corvin, unfazed by this seemingly impossible demand, goes about locating and convincing the others.

It doesn't take much to persuade Jerry O'Neill (Sutherland, M.A.S.H.) and Tank Sullivan (Garner, The Rockford Files), but Frank "Hawk" Hawkins (Jones, Double Jeopardy) is initially reluctant. Apparently, Corvin and Hawkins had a falling-out years before, but the lure of space quickly heals the wounds that time couldn't.

So it's off to Houston, Texas for an intensive few weeks of training. This is, by far, the most enjoyable part of the movie. Our four heroes exhibit a wonderful camaraderie both with each other and with the secondary characters around them. Corvin and Hawkins engage in a non-stop competition to see who's more physically fit, while O'Neill spends most of his time flirting with any available woman. There's also an enjoyable rivalry between the old-timers and the young turks who might replace them. In one funny scene in the dining hall, the young folk send each of the senior citizens a prune juice substitute. The next day, the seniors respond by sending over baby food.

Whether the old guys are fit to go into space is one of the central plot points, but the movie conveniently never resolves that issue. Maybe it's because a positive result would've strained any audience's credulity. James Garner doesn't look like he could pass a fifth grade physical fitness test, much less NASA's stringent requirements.

Once the movie gets into space, it loses a considerable part of its charm. Apparently constricted by standard Hollywood conventions of suspense, Space Cowboys introduces an unnecessary nuclear subplot along with an Apollo 13-like landing. Fortunately, director Eastwood's assured sense of pacing and tendency to understatement keeps this flight on course. He is helped immeasurably by the genuinely beautiful special effects. It's fitting that a movie about wanting to go into space would show why that desire to escape from gravity is so magnetic. But in the midst of disaster and special effects, the camaraderie that existed on firmer soil is lost. Our heroes spend most of the time scrambling around and flashing suspenseful reaction shots.

While Eastwood and Jones are the two stars of the movie, it's Donald Sutherland who really steals the show. His aging Lothario is extremely winning, and Sutherland's enthusiasm for the part is both transparent and captivating. Eastwood, who every now and then seems to be reprising his Dirty Harry character, is solid. And Tommy Lee Jones doesn't have to stretch much; his Frank Hawkins is pretty much the same character he's been playing since The Fugitive, only this time in space. The only disappointment in the cast is Garner, though you can hardly blame him that his character is so flimsy (I didn't believe Garner as a Baptist minister for a second) and his screen-time so limited.

The minor characters fulfill their roles admirably. Cromwell could play an evil bureaucrat in his sleep, so it's not surprising that he makes the grade. William Devane (Payback) is enjoyable as the gum-chewing Flight Director, and Marcia Gay Harden (Meet Joe Black) is great as a NASA scientist who falls in love with Hawkins.

In the end, Space Cowboys is far superior to the Grumpy Old Men movies (though that's not saying much) but not as funny as a Pigs in Space marathon (why doesn't Nick at Night show that?). 

J. Robert Parks