Gravity (2013) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Alfonso Cuaron

Starring:  Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, (voice of) Ed Harris

Many people would find a car breaking down someplace a taxing experience, even with resources available to get the car fixed and get you home safely.  Imagine if you are in space and your shuttle is destroyed by floating debris. Imagine also if you need to float in space a few miles over to the nearest space station.  Rescue missions are impossible and radio communication to NASA has ceased.  I couldn't imagine the terror and helplessness I would feel, especially when the more experienced of the surviving crew members separates from me.    

Gravity stirs those emotions within the audience.  I wondered while watching Apollo 13 how the crew would react if radio communication to NASA were cut off and the crew had to handle re-entry without ground support.   Probably the way Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) reacts, which is with lots of panic, uncertainty, and heavy breathing.  She thinks she may be able to initiate re-entry when she boards the unmanned Russian space station, but since she failed the simulations, she is not very confident.   Her mission superior Lt. Matt Kowalski (Clooney) is more experienced, confident, and reassuring, but he is forced to make a decision which would affect both of their chances of survival.  

Director Cuaron has made a film which taps into some of our worst fears about being in a situation where we feel hopeless and helpless. There is no manual on how to get back to Earth with very few resources at your disposal and the ones available may not even work.  The thought of being stranded in space forever is terrifying beyond comprehension, but to the two characters in Gravity, that is a very real possibility.

Gravity is visually stunning and convincing At no point is the marriage of visual effects and the actors anything less than seamless.  We know the scenes weren't shot on location in outer space, but it sure does feel that way.  The film is only about nienty minutes long and makes the right choice in stripping away everything except the essential characters and their journey.  Having a gaggle of actors fighting to occupy the same screen would be deadly.    

Clooney and Bullock are vulnerable and appealing.   We know little about their characters, but enough to make their plight compelling.  Dr. Stone seems to have thrown herself into her work after her daughter's death, while Kowalski keeps himself amused by telling jokes over the radio and his obsession with the space walk record.  This is said to be Kowalski's last space mission and usually when a character is about to retire....

I won't reveal what happens except to say that Dr. Stone is forced to rely on her survival instincts to perform feats she didn't know she was capable of.   The thought of such catastrophes happening to her mission likely crossed her mind, but she never took them seriously.  If we would fail to attempt anything because of worst-case scenarios, then we would get nothing accomplished.  The worst-case scenario does happen to her in Gravity and the horror it causes is even worse.