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Printer-Friendly ModeAstronaut Farmer launches dreams despite unlikely plot
February 26, 2007 —
The Astronaut Farmer is a feel-good family movie starring Billy Bob Thornton. That, to some, may seem like an unlikely combination, but it's one that works. Though the plot is extremely implausible, this is a movie that gets by on dreams and imagination, like the title character himself.
Billy Bob Thornton stars as Charles Farmer, a small-town man hanging onto a childhood dream: to travel into space. Despite his age, Farmer never grew out of his astronomical ambitions, and despite many naysayers, refuses to.
To go about making his dream a reality, Farmer has literally built a rocket in his barn (for he is a farmer by trade as well), at the expense of massive amounts of money and time.
He's also a family man, and his two young daughters and teenage son Shepard (Max Thieriot), all are enraptured by his plan as well. Shepard is even going to serve as Farmer's mission control. His wife, played by Virginia Madsen, is also a supporter. The closely-knit Farmer family is idealistic, but somehow believable, and early scenes work nicely to set up this family backdrop.
The question the movie poses is one of dreams coming into conflict with reality. Can a person, if he or she believes in something enough, and works hard enough at it, make a dream come true? The issue here isn't whether the literal plot is possible or not, although that is an issue a movie of this kind is forced to deal with in some regard, but whether or not someone can be a self-made man or woman. Farmer is a prototypical pursuer of the American dream.
Thornton is a truly gifted actor, and this role of a small-town man who is doubted by everyone but his family is a comfortable one for him. We've seen him in this type of role before, such as in Friday Night Lights. The Astronaut Farmer doesn't test him enough to extract a truly great performance, but Thornton does everything he can to sell the role, and he chooses to play it straight, despite the somewhat outrageous plot.
There are some funny moments in The Astronaut Farmer, most notably revolving around the FBI agents assigned to keep an eye on Farmer. What helps make this particular situation amusing, and later, touching, is that despite their placement, the agents don't at heart want Farmer to fail.
Neither, do I think, does anyone else, even those who verbally and legally condemn him. How could anyone help but wish success to someone with such a dream? There is something about space travel that represents the greatest of freedom and success, and it is a freedom and a success not predicated on selfishness.
Unlike winning an event at the Olympics or creating a movie that wins Best Picture, Farmer, by flying into space, does not by doing so deny another person of the opportunity to do the same.
The sight of a launch into space is an image that is shared by many, and beloved by many, and so the prospect of someone taking off in a self-built rocket is one that has great emotional implications.
The challenge of The Astronaut Farmer's success rests in whether or not it can take an implausible plot and make it something that is neither silly nor trite. In addition, there is the difficulty of making the audience care.
In general, The Astronaut Farmer manages to do so, and do so quite well. As I watched, I very much wanted Farmer to succeed, and to prove everyone wrong. However impossible his dream, Farmer and those around him are portrayed in such a way that it becomes equally impossible to wish for his failure.