Ridley Scott's The Martian (based on Andy Weir's bestselling novel, which I have not read), requires a good amount of suspension of disbelief. But if you're willing to suspend that disbelief, you're in for an optimistic, pro-humanity, pro-science treat. And the ride is definitely worth it.
The Martian takes place in the not-too-distant future. The United States makes regular trips to Mars, and during one particular mission, a team of astronauts (lead by Jessica Chastain) is forced to evacuate the planet because of an intense storm. Their colleague, Mark Wattney (Matt Damon), is hit with debris during the storm and the team can't rescue him. They assume he's dead and take off without him...
...but he's not dead. Wattney comes to, realizing that a piece of debris that punctured him also plugged what would have been a deadly hole in his spacesuit. He makes it back to the team's base camp before his oxygen runs out. But even though he has survived the storm, he is basically living on borrowed time. He calculates that it will be 4 years until the next group of astronauts arrive...and he can only stretch his food supplies for about a year.
Not one to give up easily, Wattney decides to "science the shit" out of his hopeless situation. He keeps a video diary of his attempts (and successes!) to grow food on the desolate planet and rejigger a moon buggy so that he can drive it to where he is supposed to "meet" the next mission to Mars. Damon plays Wattney with a jokey, friendly looseness. He's relaxed and calm in the face of almost certain death. I enjoyed Damon's performance, although it was a bit too similar to George Clooney's performance in Gravity: a handsome astronaut who jokes and flirts with Sandra Bullock even as he is literally drifting into space to die. Like Clooney, Damon could have used a few more moments of humanity. I would have liked to see a good, snot-nosed, weeping and gnashing of teeth scene in addition to his scenes of being a cool, science-nerd badass.
Meanwhile on Earth, NASA realizes that Wattney is still alive collectively brainstorms ways to get a rescue mission to him before he starves. This is where we have to suspend our disbelief--would NASA really spend millions (or billions) or dollars and months/years of time to rescue one man? Or would they simply cover up their mistake and let Wattney die--with no citizens the wiser about what happened? The skeptical side of me says there's no way in hell they'd try to rescue this guy. But The Martian isn't about the *real* world, it's about the *ideal* world.
The Martian envisions a United States that values collaboration, ingenuity, and science. A US that laughs in the face of danger while it grows potatoes from its own shit on planet Mars. It's a story that the US likes to tell about itself, but rarely (though certainly we've had our moments as a country) puts its money where its mouth is. We say that we're smart, we're brave, and we value human life--where, actually, we have politicians that don't believe in climate change or vaccines and we are careless not just with human life around the world, but the very humans living within our borders.
The Martian gives us a beautiful, hopeful glimpse of what we could be, as a nation, if we were "our best selves" as many a pop guru puts it. And I admire the film for that.
This is a film Americans need right now. A story about how logic and intelligence can solve problems. We've become increasing skeptical of science and intellectualism over the past couple decades, and it's a real shame. Of course, yes, there have always been folks skeptical of science or who lean too heavily on faith and misinformation. But as someone who works in education, it saddens me that some people now see ignorance as a badge of honor, or who dig in their heels to their false beliefs when presented with accurate facts.
The Martian, while not a perfect movie, is a film that proudly proclaims that it's cool to be smart and dares to believe that if we all put our heads together, we can achieve anything.
Grade: B
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