Nutshell: I’d give Interstellar a B+.  It’s a study in contrasts; gritty and sterile, violent and peaceful, walking the edge of death and celebrating life.   Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are fantastic, even when the storyline veers off to weirdsville at the existential nail-biter of a climax.

Though I was more an anatomy & phys gal rather than physics queen — hey, facehuggers are in outer space, I know better — when the Interstellar pre-release machine geared up, I was hooked.  Hey, I love Batman in general, as well as Christopher Nolan’s darkly insane vision of Gotham. And though there’s not a facehugger to be seen, Interstellar brings plenty of science fiction, fantasy and even a touch of horror to the future of Earth and how we live on it.  It’s also one of the most realistic feeling films about being in space that I’ve ever seen. No, I haven’t been in space.  But Interstellar’s picture-perfect realism kinda makes me feel like I popped in for a quick visit.

It’s somewhere in the near/distant/who knows future.  Human beings have gakked up the world as only we know how, and now the earth is dying.  Plants are failing, and that means nothing to eat.  (I’m assuming animal life has long since ceased to be, as there’s not another type of mammal to be seen.)  Cooper (McConaughey), a farmer that has just watched his wheat field die, realizes that corn is the only thing we’ll all be able to eat now.  But he’s stoic, and keeps much to himself to spare scaring his son and daughter.  But when his daughter Murph thinks “ghosts” are in her room, she and Cooper find out there’s more going on than our planet’s decline.  Cue space mission scenes from the trailer as the space gang piles into the Endurance; ready for liftoff!  I’d get deeper into the film, but that would Unleash the Spoilers.  Suffice it to say that yes, Interstellar pings man for being jerks about Mother Earth.  And it goes boldly where no man has gone before, except maybe Captain Kirk.  Seriously, that man’ll shag anything.

“They say it’s the last season for okra. Ever.”
Somewhere, out there, Louisiana is screaming.

Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema had his work cut out for him here, with not only trying to bring to life a visually stunning universe, but a dusty, hopeless Earth.  Opposites sure, but Hoytema nails it.  This isn’t Avatar space, with its beauty and colors.  It’s distant, unforgiving and oftentimes cruel.  My favorite bit of camera excellence is the wormhole travel scene, which is beautiful and didn’t remind me of the usual Doctor Who opening credits.  Bravo!  Nolan switches from beauty like that to bleakness at the blink of an eye, leaving the actors to pull thing together through sheer force of performance.  Damn good thing he went for the top-shelf talent.  Interstellar plays like an ensemble cast, with Cooper the cursory head of things (if only to help the story move along, and keep the various subplots running smoothly).  Even the supporting cast gives good acting, with Topher Grace, Matt Damon, Michael Caine, John Lithgow and Ellen Burstyn putting in maximum effort no matter the amount of screen time they have.  If this is the way we go out, not with a bang but with a dust storm?  These actors make you believe it.  My only period of disbelief happened after the crew from the Endurance wakes up after an 8 month space nap…and Anne Hathaway’s Amelia has perfectly sculpted eyebrows.  Not a hair out of place, not a rogue stubble poking out.  And this is IMAX y’all, I’d notice.  I ended up staring at the beauty and perfection of those brows for a good while.  Couldn’t help it.  A photo still of her character should be in every spa in the USA.

Interstellar has just enough science to keep things real and moving along, but not so much that the storyline gets all swampy, or you get cross-eyed.  There’s plenty of talk of singularity, relativity and other space/time conundrums — especially during the effects-heavy but strangely cool climax — but all you need to know is that things move to an ending that needs no Wikipedia post cribsheet to comprehend.

If you plan on heading out to Interstellar — and as this is The Big One this awards season, so I’m assuming yes — be sure to spring for the full experience.  Go IMAX.  Nolan’s vision coupled with  Hoytema’s stark realism make Interstellar feel like an Air & Space Museum documentary.  But man is that some loud sound y’all.  Perhaps it’s the usual IMAX rumble, and it is really cool to have the seats actually vibrate when a spacecraft is taking off…but whoo boy.  Not only will your ears thank you, but you’ll be able to hear the whispering Heavy Important dialogue more clearly if the bulk of the rumble is muffled a bit. Pro tip from me to you.