“Space Cowboys” (2000) [PG-13]

     Produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, this is one of many other astronaut films that came out around the turn of the century, “Space Cowboys” is one of the most entertaining. Starring Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner, “Space Cowboys” was a new turn on the idea of the astronaut movie at the time. Everyone in this film, not only the stars, gave moving performances, and there was a new dramatic side to the story with the comical rivalry between Eastwood and Jones’s characters. This brought a new angle on space pictures in general with its entertaining story, however it wasn’t the first movie with the basic premise of retired men having to get out of retirement and conquer old age for an exciting mission

     It’s not every time that a motion picture comes out and every actor in it gives an incredible performance. However, this film is one exception. Every actor was believable, even those who didn’t have an important role. From start to finish, the audience will feel as if they are actually a part of the story. The mesmerizing performances and effort given by all of the actors, not just those with starring roles, will cause the audience to forget they’re actually watching a movie.

     Throughout this film, there’s a sort of fun sibling rivalry between Eastwood’s and Jones’s characters. It’s like their way of showing happiness in their friendship is to bicker about insignificant things. At first, to the audience, it may seem that they are bitter enemies; however, as the movie progresses, it becomes very clear that it’s only their way of laughing with each other. The conflict is a more dramatic approach than other shows of this kind. This is all simply part of the bigger picture which is the exciting story.

     Written by Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner, the screenplay for “Space Cowboys” wasn’t the most groundbreaking story so far, although it was entertaining. It molded two different types of stories which have been done before into a whole new tale. They took the ideas of astronauts going into space to fix a satellite and retired men having to get out of retirement and train to do an exciting mission, and it actually worked. Looking at the script by itself most people would probably have thought that it was a gamble to make a film out of it, but Eastwood liked the idea and turned a gamble into a blockbuster. The only drawback, if there is any at all, is that the basic idea of the tale isn’t really anything new or groundbreaking; however this is one of the most entertaining space movies out there.

          My overall rating 3.5 out of 5