Review of Space Cowboys (2000) by Anssi V — 03 Apr 2012

While not as strong as some of his other directorial efforts, Eastwood still manages to portray his talent through this film. Because let's face it, the premise of a gang of aging would-have-beens going into space because of some half-assed excuse of only one of them being able to fix something is pretty ludicrous, yet the main man himself makes it work. The movie focuses on what it should, the camaraderie between these old men and not on technological scenery porn or intense action scenes. The latter two are there, of course, and the movie is heavily laden with good humour, but none of them are the main focus, the characters are, as they should.

And what characters they are. We have Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner, how could it not work. All four are powerhouse actors and it's awesome to see them on the screen at the same time. I literally have nothing bad to say about them, although it would have been nice to see Garner's character a bit more. Now he has a really funny introduction scene and then he kind of fades into the background. The same can be said about Sutherland's character though to a lesser degree. Still, these four make the movie work.

That being said, the premise IS kind of ludicrous and the plot never really rises above that. You're always aware that "yeah, this wouldn't happen like that in real life", which isn't that big of a problem, but it is a problem. Does it make the movie bad? Not really, it's still fun to watch, but this isn't one of those films that will change your life. It's just a good popcorn flick with talented actors. For me that was more than enough.