| The Astronaut Farmer | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Polish |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | M. David Mullen |
| Edited by | James Haygood |
| Music by | Stuart Matthewman |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million[1] |
| Box office | $11.1 million[1] |
The Astronaut Farmer is a 2006 Americandrama film directed byMichael Polish, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brotherMark. The film starsBilly Bob Thornton,Virginia Madsen,Bruce Dern andMax Thieriot. The plot is about aTexasrancher who attempts to construct arocket in his barn and launch himself intoouter space.
The film was released on February 23, 2007. It grossed just $11 million against its $13 million budget, and received mixed reviews from critics.
Charles Farmer is a formerU.S. Air Force fighter pilot andastronaut-in-training who reluctantly resigned from the space program and was discharged from the military before he could fulfill his dream of becoming a vital part ofNASA. He did so in order to take over his family's failing ranch in Texas after his financially strapped father's suicide prior to the ranch being foreclosed on.
Having missed the opportunity to travel into space, he decides to build a working replica of the historicMercury-Atlas rocket andspacecraft in the barn on his secluded ranch in the fictional town of Story, Texas, using all his assets and facing his ownforeclosure of the ranch as a result. But he has done so with the ongoing support of his wife Audrey, his teenage son Shepard, and young daughters Stanley and Sunshine. When he begins making inquiries about purchasing rocket fuel, theFBI andFAA step in to investigate, and the ensuing publicity thrusts Farmer into the spotlight and makes him a media darling.
Farmer's launch is delayed by endlessred tape created by U.S. government officials from the FAA, FBI,CIA, NASA and theDepartment of Defense, who seek to stall him beyond his deadline and force his creditors to foreclose on the farm. Farmer was counting on publicity to help him financially. He is denied thehydrazine fuel he requires, with government officials claiming he is a security risk and that it is too dangerous to allow a private citizen to launch a space vehicle. Facing financial ruin, he panics, climbs aboard, and, using a less-than-optimal substitute fuel, he somehow launches the rocket. However, after only a foot or two of vertical lift, the rocket descends back down, falls over, and horizontally blasts out of the old wooden barn where it was constructed.
Farmer nearly dies fromhead trauma and other injuries after his capsule is thrown from the rocket. News media, spectators and all their vehicles are nearly crushed in the process. During the months he spends recuperating, public interest in his project wanes, and while he recovers slowly, he is depressed at the failure of the project and of his dream.
An inheritance from her father, Hal, is unexpectedly left to Audrey after his death, which allows them to bring their debts current. Audrey, realizing how much Charles' dream means to the entire family, encourages Charles to construct another rocket, financing it with the rest of her inheritance. He is able to do so in relative privacy.
Using a ruse to distract snooping government officials, Charles succeeds in launching the rocketThe Dreamer, while the FAA claims no such thing has occurred. As the rocket rises out of the barn, the locals and law enforcement authorities in the area are amazed to watch it rise into space. After orbiting Earth nine times and suffering a brief period of a communication blackout, Charles returns safely and is given a hero's welcome home, appearing onThe Tonight Show withJay Leno and as seen in still photos shown during theend credits, while playingElton John's"Rocket Man".
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InHow to Build a Rocket: The Making of The Astronaut Farmer, a bonus feature on the DVD release of the film, screenwriters Michael and Mark Polish reveal they used their father as a role model for the character of Charles Farmer.
Thespace suit worn by Farmer is a replica of the Mercury-eraNavy Mark IV pressure suit worn by allMercury Seven astronauts prior toMercury-Atlas 9. Additionally, the rocket featured in the film is a nearly scale replica of the Mercury-Atlas that launched America's first astronauts intoorbit.[2]
The film'ssoundtrack includes "Rocket Man" byElton John, "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" byWaylon Jennings, "(Hey Baby) Que Paso" byTexas Tornados, "John Saw That Number" byNeko Case, "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)" byDwight Yoakam, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" byFreddy Fender, "List of Reasons" byDale Watson, "I Made a Lover's Prayer" byGillian Welch.
The film premiered at the 2006Mill Valley Film Festival. Its February 23, 2007 theatrical release in the United States was three days after the 45th anniversary of the country's first orbital mission,Friendship 7, piloted byJohn Glenn.
When Thornton's character is being interviewed by Jay Leno during the closing credits, the studio audience members are not extras but the actual audience from that day's filming ofThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes assigned the film an approval rating of 59% based on 135 reviews, with an average rating of 5.97/10. The site's critics consensus states: "The Astronaut Farmer is a charming, inspirational drama that successfully avoids modern cinematic cliches while appealing to the optimistic dreamer in all of us."[3]Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[4] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[5]
A.O. Scott of theNew York Times called the film "a disarmingly sincere follow-your-dreams fable" and added, "The tone of the film . . . is wide-eyed and unapologetically sentimental . . . With another actor in the title role . . . the mawkishness would be unbearable, but Mr. Thornton can be relied upon for understated dignity accompanied by an intriguing undertone of serious craziness . . . The Polish brothers, in earlier films likeTwin Falls Idaho andNorthfork, have always placed wonderment above storytelling, and the availability of big stars and a reasonable special-effects budget has not entirely blunted their taste for odd, resonant images. The opening shots, of Farmer on horseback in his space suit, hint at a strangeness that the rest of the movie never quite lives up to, but it does have a visual freshness that makes the bromides andclichés palatable."[6]
Kevin Crust of theLos Angeles Times observed, "There's something old-fashioned aboutThe Astronaut Farmer that's so conventional it feels unconventional. It follows the paradigm of inspirational movies so perfectly that even the smallest deviation seems rebellious. The movie's orthodoxy is precisely what allows us to take such pleasure in its irregularities . . . With this movie, the [Polish] brothers have been given a giant coloring book. While both write and produce, Mark directs and Michael acts . . . and for the most part, they attempt to stay within the lines. But it's in the few moments when they go outside those lines that the movie momentarily soars."[7]
Ruthe Stein of theSan Francisco Chronicle called the film " exemplary family-friendly entertainment" and added, "[I]n less artistic hands, [it] could easily spin into cliche. Michael and Mark Polish . . . avoid triteness by sheer force of imagination. The small Texas town where Charles Farmer . . . handcrafts a rocket in his barn one valve at a time is presented as both familiar and otherworldly, partNorman Rockwell, partTwilight Zone . . . The brothers are following a path set byDavid Lynch, the king of weird, who ventured into wholesome territory withThe Straight Story and came up with something profound in its simplicity . . . The Polishes set up a classicDavid andGoliath situation, leaving no question of whom the audience will root for. There are sufficient surprises along the way, so the ending is far from predictable.The Astronaut Farmer's goofy quality makes it totally endearing. It's also super entertaining."[8]
Steve Dollar of theNew York Sun said, "Even for a comedy with dramatic drive,The Astronaut Farmer demands that the audience suspend its disbelief on multiple fronts . . . What is believable, however, is the passion of Billy Bob. He genuinely makes all the tearjerker, hug-a-munchkin family stuff resonate. Maybe it takes an actress as sensual and earthy as Ms. Madsen to match Mr. Thornton in emotional honesty, but their grown-up dynamic is what keeps the movie from drifting out of orbit."[9]
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The film was released on DVD on July 10, 2007.