The Astronaut Farmer (2006)
R1 / NTSC DVD
Warner Home Video / 2007
Director: Michael Polish
Writer: Mark Polish & Michael Polish
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, Max Theriot & Bruce Dern
Review by Ted Phipps

Charley Farmer is a Texas rancher who dropped out of astronaut training years ago for personal reasons. He never lost the dream to go into space though, and has decided to go for it on his own. Using military surplus parts, he’s building a rocket out in the barn, which makes him the town eccentric. When he’s ready to buy rocket fuel, the government gets interested and it becomes a battle between the Farmer family’s dream and a world full of skeptics.

I found that as I watched this movie I was judging it on two different levels. From an entertainment standpoint I found The Astronaut Farmer to be a feel-good movie intended to inspire and remind people that reaching for your dreams is a good thing. On the other hand, watching the film from a reality standpoint I muttered “bullshit” at least twenty times. I know something about how rockets work and how the government gets involved, and there’s no way this is even remotely possible.

The movie is a fairy tale set in the modern day. Keeping it rooted in the world we recognize heightens the impact of what Charley is trying to accomplish, even while making it more difficult to accept the more fantastic aspects of the story. It’s a fine line that is being walked, and for the most part the director has been successful.
 
  • Screen Format: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen & Fullscreen / Color
  • Audio: English / Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
  • Run time: 104 mins.
  • How to Build a Rocket: The Making of The Astronaut Farmer
  • A Conversation with NASA Astronaut David Scott
  • Bloopers & Outtakes
  • Theatrical Trailer
 

I’m going to buy this one for my personal collection. If you’re not a space nut like me though, I’d suggest renting it first to see if you like it. The Polish brothers have included many little tributes to NASA and science fiction movies from the past, and it’s big fun recognizing them. The Astronaut Farmer is a good family movie with a lot of strong positive messages in the story it tells, but if you’re looking for something closer to reality I’d suggest watching October Sky. Better yet, these two back to back makes for an excellent double feature.
 
 

“Smoke. Fire. Noise. What’s not to love?”
 
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