Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
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THE RIGHT STUFF
by Herb Kane
April 23th, 2003
(Out of 4 stars)
"The Right Stuff" is a movie about the courage of seven men aiming for the skies to be one of the first Americans to step foot in space. We also see Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) flying a bullet-shaped Bell X-1 rocket plane (October 14, 1947) to be the first man to break the sound barrier in a flight over the Mojave Desert. Later the race is on to put a man in space and we see how seven pilots go through endless testing to prove their emotional and physical capabilities for the job - which oftentimes is laced with humor during tense times. Their wives don't exactly take on their passion.
One backyard barbecue scene displays how the pilots love flying and the wives are distressed by the high accident rate (a one in four chance of dying). I especially like the brave attitudes of the pilots - like when they confront the designers to make a porthole in the spacecraft so they could see. They made the designers feel like monkeys, which at the time many would have preferred to use on flights instead of humans.
Roger Ebert said in his review, "Seen now in the shadow of the Challenger and Columbia disasters, 'The Right Stuff' is a grim reminder of the cost of sending humans into space."
Indeed this is risky business, but ultimately it is the choice of the human pilot to make that personal decision. It takes someone with "The Right Stuff" to make it all possible and I salute people like Walter Schirra, Gordon Cooper, Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Deke Slayton, Scott Carpenter and all others who are willing to risk their lives for the benefit of humankind - to stretch the envelope beyond our world to discover the unknown.
There is a powerful scene showing Yeager flying a plane toward space and seeing stars on a backdrop of blackness at 120,000 feet and then plummets right back to earth.. Actress Veronica Cartwright (Betty Grissom) said in a panel discussion at the Virginia Theater, "He is really the man who went to outer space...he was a true pilot and a true astronaut." It was a powerful, powerful scene.
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it's just great." Veronica Cartwright (Betty Grissom in "The Right Stuff") |
Then we see John Glenn (Ed Harris) and his flight on February 20, 1962 - the first American to orbit earth. Gustav Holst's "The Planets" was the perfect music to set this spectacular event. "Mars" plays at the launch and "Jupiter" sounds as the craft moves toward space and "Neptune" gives a sense of mystery as the craft finally enters orbit. It was fantastic!
"The Right Stuff" is a good movie, but you can sure feel the 193 minutes we spend watching it. Comedic moments help pass time like when we see Lyndon Johnson (played by Donald Moffat) become intensely aggravated by John Glenn's wife, Annie, for refusing to let him and the networks into her house. It was hilarious!
This is the first opening movie at Ebert's fest that I've given less than 4 stars. I simply enjoyed "2001: A Space Odyssey" (screened in 2001) and "Patton" (screened in 2002) much better. But I think "The Right Stuff" is an appropriate choice considering the recent Columbia disaster. I have even more appreciation for those who are willing to put their life on the line to travel beyond the safe borders of our planet.
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
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Museum. He played Lyndon Johnson in "The Right Stuff." |
CREDITS: CAST: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris,
Dennis Quaid. DIRECTOR: Philip Kaufman. PRODUCER: James D. Brubaker.
WRITTEN BY: Philip Kaufman, Tom Wolfe. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Caleb Deschanel.
RUNNING TIME: 3 hours, 13 minutes. MPAA RATING: PG. U.S. DISTRIBUTOR:
Warner Studios
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