ASTRONAUT

ASTRONAUT is an entertaining drama about an elderly, widowed civil engineer who lies about his age and health to enter a competition to pick one person to take a ride on the first commercial aircraft into space. ASTRONAUT could use a little more energy and has some brief foul language, but it’s a cute movie with an engaging performance by Richard Dreyfuss and strong, uplifting themes of family and exploration.

Angus Stewart (Richard Dreyfuss) is a retired civil engineer who’s always dreamed of going into outer space. He sits outside his home every night and watches the stars with his telescope. One night as he joins his grandson in the living room, Angus sees a promotion for a space competition where 12 lucky contestants will be drawn from a hat, and then the public will vote for one of them to take a ride on the first commercial aircraft into space.

Angus is in poor health and is too old to join the competition. Right before he was going to apply, Angus suffers a heart attack, and his daughter takes him to a nursing home. It is during this time that she’s simultaneously trying to sell Angus’s old house, get out of the debt her late mother accumulated and come to terms with her husband’s suspension from work.

In the nursing home, Angus makes friends with the other people there. Angus befriends a sickly man named Lynn who can’t speak yet pushes him to apply. Angus applies with one-minute left and is then chosen out of the 12 to be interviewed in front of the public. As a practice round, his grandson films a mock interview before Angus goes to the real interview. Will Angus do well enough in the interview to be chosen?

ASTRONAUT is a cute movie with many themes of family and exploration at the center. Richard Dreyfuss is the main reason this movie is worth watching. His performance as Angus is endearing and thoughtful, drawing in viewers when the movie may just seem to be getting boring. For those moviegoers who love his performance as Roy Neary in Steven Spielberg’s science fiction classic CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, ASTRONAUT will bring back fond memories. The cinematography in ASTRONAUT is good, and the music is well placed. That said, the movie could use a little more energy, and the story could have been more cohesive to tie everything together. ASTRONAUT does have a strong moral, pro-family worldview, with a positive father-daughter relationship. So, it deserves to be commended. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children due to some foul language.