Review of Space Cowboys (2000) by Steve J — 10 Dec 2007

The trailers for Space Cowboys made it tough to judge--one set it up as a serious action movie, the other as a comedy. I was afraid that the movie would end up mixing the two halves badly and make a big mess. But with a cast of Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner, and Donald Sutherland, I figured it couldn't be all bad.

In fact, Space Cowboys is an entertaining movie. The cast does a great job of getting the mix of old codger and action hero just right. The plot is fairly formulaic, with the leader (Eastwood) gathering up his old crew for one last job and then launching into Armageddon-esque training sequences. The two "plot twists" in the movie are easy to see coming, but you don't really mind. Eastwood and the boys put the formula to good use, resulting in a funny, action-packed movie. Like Armageddon, Space Cowboys is much better on the ground than in space.

My biggest complaint is that the movie chose to focus primarily on two of the four "Space Cowboys"--Eastwood and Jones. While they are both fine actors and definite action hero material, I would have like to see more Sutherland and (especially) Garner. While both do get a decent share of good lines and even an action scene or two, they are obviously not as important to the grand scheme of things as Jones and Eastwood. That said, there is one great joke for Garner fans--his character's name is "Tank"--a reference to an old, silly, and incredibly good Garner film.

Space Cowboys doesn't deliver anything great in terms of plot or any new advances in special effects, but the actors have the skill to make it enjoyable just the same.