The Astronaut Farmer
Click
to listen to my one-on-one interview with actor Billy Bob Thornton.
Dreams are what make our
world work. Dreams allow us to travel across continents in record time.
Dreams allow us to see and go and do things that
centuries ago no one would
have thought possible; no one except those with a dream. To paraphrase
a worthwhile saying, "Without dreams humanity will
perish." Dreams rally people
around a cause. Dreams build bridges and unite ideas. Dreams turn "what
if's" into "how far's". Dreams are contagious and with the right passion
ignite a flame. My hope is that the new film The Astronaut Farmer
will inspire a nation of dreamers to just simply go for it.
Charles Farmer (Billy Bob
Thornton) is a dreamer. A man who had his dreams of space travel delayed
by personal situations but did not allow those
situations to stop what
his inner being longed to do. He is a quiet fellow. A man who loves his
family. A guy who will not allow small town gossip and
negativity to thwart his
mission. His mission to launch himself into space and his wife (Virginia
Madsen) and family are behind him 100%. The problem
is that he isn't fulfilling
his dream through NASA but rather a rocket ship he has built in his own
barn.
I know what you are thinking.
And on the surface this sounds like a total, "hold my beer and watch this"
moment. I mean only in Texas could you have
someone building a rocket
in their barn and it be believable. But this movie does a wonderful
job of getting you beyond the concept and pulling you
into Farmer's vision. The
story stirs up the dreamer in you. You want to see him succeed because
his rocket represents all of our dreams. Those we never could get launched
and so we stored them away in the back of our lives somewhere. This is
our chance to see them released. Granted this film is
fiction and there will always
be those who try to find the holes and impossibilities in the story line.
But that is what all dreamers face. Those who always look for reasons to
fail. You can allow that negativity to ruin the film. Or you can be inspired
by it regardless.
This movie also shows the
backbone of family unity in a unique circumstance. Even though Farmer's
family may not share his dream to go into space, they believe in him above
everything else. It's as if their dream is to see his dream fulfilled.
That's the nature of true family. As one comedian once put
it, "The wonderful thing
about the game show Family Feud is that while the rest of the world is
calling you an idiot, your family is yelling, Good answer! Good answer!"
It is that foundation that resonates in the Farmer family. And maybe it
will cause other families to rethink how they support each other.
The Astronaut Farmer
is rated PG for thematic material, peril and language. This is a perfect
family movie for all generations. If there is one movie
that you could truly take
the entire family to this would be it. It will stir your conversation about
each other's dreams and what it means to support unconditionally. Odds
are no one in your home is building a rocket ship but if they are you need
to be willing to help light the fuse. I give this flick 4 out of 5 'atta
boys. With a look at The Astronaut Farmer, I'm Matt Mungle
The Mungle (02/20/07)
Matt is a member of the North
Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) and hosts the weekly syndicated
Indie Rock Radio Show Spin 180. Plus with his
wife Cindy they do a weekly
radio feature, The Mungles on Movies. For additional reviews and interview
clips visit the website www.mungleshow.com
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