Review of Space Cowboys (2000) by Sarah E — 25 Feb 2011

I don't know why this movie is entertaining. Clint Eastwood is apparently incapable of directing a truly terrible film. Yes, I know that Space Cowboys isn't his best, and it's not a great film either, but it is fun to watch, and that, to me, is worthy of four stars.

Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner play four pilots from the armed forces who are overlooked by the space program for what I hope is a damn talented primate. Eastwood's character Frank is later - much later, decades later, in fact - contacted by NASA because apparently, a Russian communications satellite is failing, and that satellite happens to be based on his design. In exchange for his assistance, Frank demands that he and his old teammates be sent into space to save the dying satellite. NASA agrees, but only if the four geriatrics are accompanied by two young, strapping astronauts in the process. This gives rise to a lot of hilarity and dark humour, because of course everyone Frank and his teams knew has died and, oh yeah, the four main cast members are too damn old to be doing all this crap, let alone half of it.

Maybe it is Eastwood's prowess as a filmmaker that makes this movie so damn watchable. Or maybe it's the complete conviction of the actors, who all know this is ridiculous but don't care. Truth is always stranger than fiction, of course. I don't know and truthfully, it doesn't matter. I enjoy it. I think it has the power to entertain. That's all I want it to do.