Space Cowboys
Intelligent life is found in the thinking person's Armageddon.

He could kick Ben Affleck's ass any day: Eastwood in Space Cowboys.

Clint Eastwood is seventy years old. This fact permeates every aspect of Space Cowboys, the languorously paced, thoughtfully-constructed film which he both starred in and directed. One of the finest movies this year -- which, granted, isn't saying much at this point -- Space Cowboys is an old school space drama made by a man who isn't so much old-fashioned as stolidly dedicated to the classic tenets of good cinema. All sorts of crazy things are at work in Space Cowboys -- stuff like plot, pacing, character development -- that haven't been evident in any sci fi film this year, with the exception of David Twohy's Pitch Black. Space Cowboys is a sight for genre eyes still smarting from the chaos and ugliness of Mission to Mars, Supernova and Battlefield Earth. It's a classy film by a classy actor who knows his craft and, like his character in the film, has no qualms about ignoring flashier, younger trends that prevent him from working on his own terms. At seventy years old, Eastwood still doesn't take any shit from anyone; in a certain sense, Space Cowboys is an ode to that attitude.

The film opens with a black and white sequence in which we are introduced to the main characters, aspiring astronauts Frank Corvin (Eastwood), "Hawk" Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), "Tank" Sullivan (James Garner) and Jerry O'Nell (Donald Sutherland, very believable as a pervy old man and less so as an alleged sex god). This is the late 1950s, and the space race between the US and the USSR has just begun. For Our Heroes, however, the race to be an astronaut is over -- they're beaten out for the task by a monkey, thanks to their unfair boss, Bob Gerson (James Cromwell).

From the little-documented boy band years.

Flash forward forty years later, and none of the would-be astronauts -- now old men -- have lost their taste for adventure; one is a roller coaster tester, one is a stunt pilot, and so forth. While I would like to say it's nice to see old people in such interesting, unconventional roles, the fact remains that it's nice to see old people on screen, period. What would be cliché; and predictable in a film dominated by younger actors (see -- or don't -- Armageddon, which is similar in storyline) has new depth and appeal in the hands of skilled, talented veterans like Eastwood and particularly Jones. Early on, it becomes obvious where the film is headed -- a troubled satellite launched in the 1950s leads the reuniting crew into outer space to stop the probable destruction of Earth -- but the characters are so charming and amusing that the film remains consistently entertaining.

Eastwood, doing the directing thing.

Less entertaining are the desperate attempts of Warner Bros to insert odd moments of trendy, youth-oriented humor -- one scene contains a vomiting young man (you know, because the teens just love vomit), another features Eastwood strutting along to... 'N Sync. It's a long way from Ennio Morricone, at any rate. These moments are few and far between, thankfully, and Eastwood's directorial style is timeless. Space Cowboys could have been released at any point in time over the last thirty years -- and, if not for the subject matter, the last eighty -- and no one would have batted an eye. This is not to slight Space Cowboys' lack of innovation but to praise the film for taking a fairy simple plot and turning it into something sweet, funny and suspenseful. Best of all, it's a chance to see Eastwood, a man's man and a director's director, leading one of the best ensemble casts in years.

DROOL FACTOR: Call me in about forty years and I'll probably say Clint Eastwood, who looks really good for seventy but is still, well, seventy. For younger blood, Loren Dean and Courtney B. Vance aren't bad, but they're upstaged in every scene.

GROSS-OUT FACTOR: Vomit, even trendy vomit, is gross.

STRONG CHICK FACTOR: With the studly charms of denture-wearing Donald Sutherland thankfully played for laughs, the only important female role goes to Marcia Gay Harden as a NASA employee who falls for Tommy Lee Jones. This is probably the only aspect of the film I thought was a little weak -- where are all the old chicks? (Besides in the audience pining over Eastwood.)

-- Sarah Kendzior

Space Cowboys is currently playing.

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