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Movies have brought me to tears for a variety of reasons from depictions of grief to ones of joy. This one made this happen for a reason you would not think would start the waterworks: human achievement. The ways it captures attempts to master the skies and beyond dazzle and inspire in every way possible. As for the former, there's Sam Shepard's work as Chuck Yeager, which is not only iconic for how well he plays the man, but also for how he embodies the pinnacle of terrestrial flight and the one-man Greek chorus to the first attempts to go further. How Kaufman and company pulled off Yeager's mission to break the sound barrier and more make you feel like you're his co-pilot, and to praise Shepard even further, I'll just say it's a little hard to believe the actor was afraid to fly.
As happy as I was for the movie to check in with Yeager after the opening scene, Project Mercury is the main event here, and what an event it is! While its seven astronauts will undoubtedly inspire generations yet to come, I appreciate how the movie humanizes them. There's Alan Shepard's love of Ed Sullivan, John Glenn's game show appearances, etc., but where it really comes through is in the press conference scene. With the audience's wildly enthusiastic responses to everything they say, you get a genuine sensation of what it's like to be thrust into the public eye. The same could be said of the scenes with the astronauts' poor wives being hounded by hordes of journalists. As awesome as Yeager's flights are, you really see where the movie earned its Oscars in the scenes where the seven orbit the Earth, with Glenn's being the highlight and not just because he went around it three times. I cannot imagine an American seeing this movie without feeling more patriotic afterwards, but I give it credit for not leaving out the factors that gave us Project Mercury beyond the desire to achieve. The effort to keep up with the Russians is thankfully never sugarcoated and is always amusing, especially due to the repeated shot of Jeff Goldblum's recruiter running to notify the president of their latest advance. Oh, and no matter how many times you have seen parodies or homages of the scene where the astronauts walk towards the camera while in uniform, you will undoubtedly forget to breathe during the one where it all started.
As is typical of historical movies like this one, it has its inconsistencies. Not to discount Fred Ward's work, but the depiction of Gus Grissom in particular is not entirely accurate. Regardless, I am again not ashamed to admit that the special ways this movie depicts humanity pushing the aerial envelope brought a tear to my eye. While it's partly personal - it made me flash back to the first book about space I checked out from the school library - I cannot imagine it not making you believe in humanity just a little more regardless of how interested you are in flight or space travel.
Movies have brought me to tears for a variety of reasons from depictions of grief to ones of joy. This one made this happen for a reason you would not think would start the waterworks: human achievement. The ways it captures attempts to master the skies and beyond dazzle and inspire in every way possible. As for the former, there's Sam Shepard's work as Chuck Yeager, which is not only iconic for how well he plays the man, but also for how he embodies the pinnacle of terrestrial flight and the one-man Greek chorus to the first attempts to go further. How Kaufman and company pulled off Yeager's mission to break the sound barrier and more make you feel like you're his co-pilot, and to praise Shepard even further, I'll just say it's a little hard to believe the actor was afraid to fly.
As happy as I was for the movie to check in with Yeager after the opening scene, Project Mercury is the main event here, and what an event it is! While its seven astronauts will undoubtedly inspire generations yet to come, I appreciate how the movie humanizes them. There's Alan Shepard's love of Ed Sullivan, John Glenn's game show appearances, etc., but where it really comes through is in the press conference scene. With the audience's wildly enthusiastic responses to everything they say, you get a genuine sensation of what it's like to be thrust into the public eye. The same could be said of the scenes with the astronauts' poor wives being hounded by hordes of journalists. As awesome as Yeager's flights are, you really see where the movie earned its Oscars in the scenes where the seven orbit the Earth, with Glenn's being the highlight and not just because he went around it three times. I cannot imagine an American seeing this movie without feeling more patriotic afterwards, but I give it credit for not leaving out the factors that gave us Project Mercury beyond the desire to achieve. The effort to keep up with the Russians is thankfully never sugarcoated and is always amusing, especially due to the repeated shot of Jeff Goldblum's recruiter running to notify the president of their latest advance. Oh, and no matter how many times you have seen parodies or homages of the scene where the astronauts walk towards the camera while in uniform, you will undoubtedly forget to breathe during the one where it all started.
As is typical of historical movies like this one, it has its inconsistencies. Not to discount Fred Ward's work, but the depiction of Gus Grissom in particular is not entirely accurate. Regardless, I am again not ashamed to admit that the special ways this movie depicts humanity pushing the aerial envelope brought a tear to my eye. While it's partly personal - it made me flash back to the first book about space I checked out from the school library - I cannot imagine it not making you believe in humanity just a little more regardless of how interested you are in flight or space travel.