Ryan Gosling stars in Project Hail Mary.
Project Hail Mary is the latest Andy Weir joint to make it to the big screen. The movie, which is based on Weir’s 2022 novel of the same name, was written by Drew Goddard (Daredevil, The Martian) and directed by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse‘s Phil Lord and Chris Miller and is set to hit theaters everywhere on March 20. Ryan Gosling stars as a school teacher who gets thrown into an impossible scenario. He’s rocketed into outer space to fix a mysterious anomaly that threatens the future of Earth’s existence.
If the concept of having the fate of humanity lie in the hands of an ill-equipped underdog who has to go to outer space to accomplish the impossible feels familiar, it should. You’ve seen a similar storyline play out in a handful of sci-fi movies, such as Armageddon, Deep Impact and Moonfall.
It’s a cinematic trope that I’ve grown quite tired of. Yet, to my delight, Project Hail Mary pulls it off.
Before I continue, please take heed: There are major story spoilers below.
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Ryan Gosling stars in Project Hail Mary.
Project Hail Mary is a collection of moving parts that, if poorly balanced, could easily dip into the cheesy space-adventure arena where the above examples reside. It all works, though, and brilliantly so. And the success of this high-stakes, hilarious and heartfelt story relies, in large part, on Ryan Gosling’s performance as science teacher Ryland Grace.
Most of the work Gosling does in this movie is on his own, reminiscent of Matt Damon in The Martian and Sam Rockwell in Moon. Gosling carries Project Hail Mary for the simple reason that he’s mostly flying solo throughout the movie. That can be a daunting affair for an actor, considering the confines of the set and the lack of a reliable scene partner, but Gosling doesn’t falter as Grace.
In his solitude, the film’s emotional foundation is set. Aside from the fact that there’s a pending disaster involving some star-eating amoeba, it’s the endearingly clumsy nature of Gosling’s Grace that makes Project Hail Mary feel completely plausible. Is it, though? Don’t ask me. That’s not important.
Through flashbacks, we do get a bunch of necessary backstory as to why Grace is by himself in the spacecraft, his qualifications as a molecular biologist and the solitary nature of his existence outside of his work teaching Jr. High School students.
Ryan Gosling stars in Project Hail Mary.
I should probably mention that Project Hail Mary is also a movie about first contact. This was written as a major plot twist in the book and was a point revealed in the trailer, which upset many readers. With that said, knowing there’d be an alien in the movie didn’t at all lessen my viewing experience. In fact, it heightened it.
All you need to do is a brief internet search to see critics comparing the movie to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. These comparisons aren’t wrong. Project Hail Mary is fueled by an Amblin-esque type of wonder that keeps the story rocketing forward.
It’s important to note that the relationship component that blossoms in space is the catalyst that pushes Grace to evolve from an eccentric underdog to a focused hero.
It takes a while to get to the alien meet-cute and the friendship story it turns into, and, in an effort to keep at least some of this story aspect a surprise, I will just say it takes real talent to infuse a seemingly inanimate object with humanistic emotions and empathy.
In related news: Project Hail Mary succeeded at making me cry over a rock.
Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller star in Project Hail Mary.
Gosling may do a bunch of the heavy lifting in this movie, but a supporting cast of characters comes into play in the backstory clips, which add color and context to the story. Sandra Hüller’s Eva Stratt, the solemn scientist who enlists Grace into the top-secret project, is the perfect foil against Gosling’s unkempt joke-telling.
The Bear’s Lionel Boyce is also a delight. He gives Grace a sorta buddy figure to bond with in the government sequences. Let’s not forget James Ortiz, the puppeteer and voice of the aforementioned alien, who absolutely delivers as Grace’s best alien friend.
I’ve spoken a lot about character and performance, which is necessary for this review, considering how important the emotional stakes are here. These two components make the galactic adventure and potential global disaster well-earned story details. Considering this is a movie set in space, I haven’t even mentioned the outstanding visual effects.
On that front, Project Hail Mary presents some spectacular sequences. I saw the movie on a gigantic IMAX screen, which may be why I found the scenes set outside the ship so mesmerizing. Gosling doesn’t leave the ship too often, but when his character is performing a spacewalk or attempting to collect the star-eating creatures I mentioned earlier, the movie pops off on a whole other level.
When it comes to space adventures involving otherworldly creatures, the danger usually feels palpable and threatening. Project Hail Mary doesn’t lean that way, which is an exciting genre departure. Yes, this is a high-stakes science-fiction tale, but it goes against the grain by keeping the magic and wonder of science at the forefront.
Above all else, Project Hail Mary is about the power of love and friendship — and I don’t know about you, but that’s something I think we need a lot more of right about now.
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