Project Hail Mary

Gosling just has it. I don't know how else to put it. The dude walks into a movie and the movie bends toward him, and Project Hail Mary is no exception. He's the engine, and the whole thing hums because of it.

I went in fired up because I loved the book, and I'll be honest, I was bracing for the usual betrayals. You know the ones. The "we had to change it for the screen" speech. Didn't happen here. They were faithful to the source, and I'm grateful, because the source rules.

This is one of those movies that earns the trip out of the house.

The effects do exactly what they need to do. Big, convincing, never distracting. I never got pulled out of it going "yeah, that looks fake." That's the bar, and they cleared it.

Sandra Huller as Stratt is exactly right. She's got that no-nonsense gravity the role needs and she brings it.

And Rocky. Man. Rocky is just the best. If you've read the book you already know, and if you haven't, you're about to. I'll leave it at that.

Thumb down. If you know, you know. If you don't, go find out.

Saw it in the theater with the kids and the big screen absolutely added to it. This is one of those movies that earns the trip out of the house. It stuck with me on the drive home, stuck with me the next day, and I'd happily sit through it again.

Way better than I went in expecting, and I went in expecting a lot.