Space Cowboys (2000)

I’ve always enjoyed any film with Clint Eastwood in it. From the Dollars Trilogy to Dirty Harry, the man always knows how to entertain. I’m also a fan of his directorial work, such as Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, The Bridges of Madison County, Gran Torino, Mystic River, and many others. Lately, I got to watch another one of his films that made me say, “Okay?” I usually like most of the stuff that Eastwood has done and even though I still had fun with this one, it revolved around a story that’s more strange than my own behaviors. That story would be Space Cowboys. Both directed, produced by, and starring Eastwood, it was quite an interesting movie to say the least and I guess I can give credit to the fact that I haven’t seen one like this before, but would I say it’s one of his best? That would be a no. However, this will certainly be an intriguing film to explore further so let’s go ahead and dive right in.

     Eastwood plays Frank Corvin, a retired engineer and former Air Force pilot who gets called upon by NASA when an aging Russian Satellite known as IKON begins to fall out of orbit. Since the satellite’s guidance system is based on an outdated system that Frank designed, NASA needs his expertise. Frank agrees to help them, but only on one condition: he and his equally old team go up into space to fix it. He brings in Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), Jerry O’Neill (Donald Sutherland), and Tank Sullivan (James Garner). Together, they go through rigorous training to see if they still have what it takes. I’ll give the characters this: they have a lot more courage than I would under these circumstances. Although that wouldn’t really be saying much since I’ve been scared of much less. One thing I really liked about this movie was the chemistry between its four main stars and when you have names like Eastwood, Jones, Sutherland, and Garner in these roles, you know they’re going to deliver. The rest of the cast did a pretty good job, too, such as James Cromwell as Bob Gerson, an administrator overseeing NASA’s operations and Marcia Gay Harden as Sara Holland, a dedicated and professional NASA scientist who is tasked with training and supervising the aging crew. I also found the set design and special effects pretty convincing for the time that this movie came out so that was fun to witness. A couple things that didn’t really do much for me in this movie though, was how predictable the story was at times. There were maybe one or two things that did catch me off guard but it wasn’t much. The other is how farfetched it was. I mean, I’m all for ignoring realism and just going along for the ride but I guess when you’re as judgmental as someone like me (I find that really annoying in this case), you just can’t seem to shut that off. I feel like I should probably watch this movie again since I know what to expect from it now and I might enjoy it more a second time, but for now I think I’ll just stick to my opinion on the first viewing.

     Aside from the negative points in this movie, I still found it to be an enjoyable one. Even in a film that I think is only okay, Eastwood still knows how to entertain and his screen presence is always a powerhouse that can never be touched. I’d have to give this movie a 7 out of 10. Even if it won’t be your favorite Eastwood movie (it’s definitely not mine) I’d still recommend it to anyone who’s a fan and is looking for something enjoyable.