Project Hail Mary is a good name for Movie Land’s latest attempt to generate a hit while theatergoers continue to be lackadaisical about donating cash to Hollywood.
Wonder of wonders, Project Hail Mary is a good effort. It is not weighed down by the standard grievous errors, both technical and social. It is a solid, crowd-pleasing family film.
Let’s take a spoiler-free look at it…
Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary is based on a novel by sci-fi-problem-solving porn author Andy Weir, who wrote the source material for Ridley Scott’s The Martian. Drew Goodard (Cloverfield, The Cabin in the Woods) penned the screenplay.
Meanwhile, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who brought us the sublime Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, directed.
Lord and Miller ran a tight ship on Project Hail Mary. They probably learned valuable lessons from their experience with Solo: A Star Wars Story and kept all the theater kids distracted so they couldn’t screw things up. Lord and Miller likely gave them a box of crayons and told them to draw posters of their genitals in rainbow colors to keep them busy.
One can tell grown-ups worked on this movie. It is virtually pure story. Settle back and watch an everyman save the world with the help of his rock friend.
Proud Hail Mary Keep On Rolling
Ryan Gosling stars as the everyman, Ryland Grace. His character is an iconoclast, brilliant teacher who answers the call to deliver humanity from interplanetary disaster.
Yet, Gosling’s portrayal of Grace is not that simple. He’s a bit of a bumbling coward. Gosling’s transition from heartthrob to heroes with a streak of absurdity is entertaining. He proves himself to be one of the more watchable modern actors.
Some may yearn for such characters to be more manly men. That is a reasonable yearning. Yet, within the context of Project Hail Mary, Gosling’s character is fine. One can’t view Project Hail Mary as gritty film. It has more in common with films like The Swiss Family Robinson and The Apple Dumpling Gang.
Hail Mary Shelly
Gosling’s human supporting cast is sparse. German actress Sandra Huller gives Gosling his mission. Ken Leung and Milana Vayntrub appear briefly on the way.
Gosling’s main co-star is James Ortiz as Rocky, an alien being.
Rocky is a practical puppet voiced by Ortiz. Ortiz also operated the puppet, along with the help of four other people.
Is Rocky as iconic as Yoda and the puppet creations of Jim Henson? No, but the viewer will have no issue viewing rocky as a real character. His design is interesting and reasonably emotive for a creature made of rock with no facial features.
Together, Gosling and Rocky work together to overcome their language barriers and find solutions to the threat putting both of their worlds in danger. Kids will laugh and maybe cry. Adults will likely be amused. Everyone wins.
Hail Mary Tyler Moore
Criticisms can be made about Project Hail Mary, but a lot of them are matters of taste. For example, I prefer edgier films. If I had a choice between Project Hail Mary and Sunshine, I would pick Sunshine ten out of ten times.
Likewise, others might find Project Hail Mary treacle or flippant. Meanwhile, the person next to them might find those elements at exactly the right level.
The only objective criticisms to make toward Project Hail Mary are about numbers. The film runs a bit long at 236 minutes. It could probably be about 15 minutes shorter by losing some redundant banter.
Likewise, Project Hail Mary cost $250 million. That still seems a bit too expensive for what is onscreen. Bloated budgets are one reason Hollywood is drowning. When a film needs to hit $500 million to break even, it comes out of the gates hobbled.
$150 million should be enough to deliver a movie like Project Hail Mary. Despite various expansive shots in the trailer, the film is not that outlandish visually. It is mostly contained within interiors. The good news for those footing the bill is that the film made $140 million opening weekend. It will probably have legs at the box office, as well. It should get good word of mouth.
Yet, it still has a way to go to hit profit territory at that price.
Project All Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary is not just named after a desperate throw in American football. It is also a throwback film to a time of simple adventures that the whole family can enjoy.
