Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron’s space anxiety story is a showcase for Sandra Bullock’s acting. George Clooney tries to be be bigger than life when he is on screen but he’s more of an implied character rather than a featured artist.
All I knew about the story was that Bullock gets separated from her shuttle and floats off into space. The commercials even made me feel panicky. So on the way to see the movie, I decided I couldn’t sit through the whole movie feeling anxiously ill and wanted to know how it ended. I could deal with it if I knew she died at the end. I pulled out my phone to read about it and the car passengers exploded with protests imploring me not to look at the spoilers – that I would know how it all turned out in 2 hours. OK, fine.
The story unfolded that with every disaster, there was soon a remedy or possibility for survival. I wasn’t left long with dread without a ray of hope. The adrenalin was at an even drip throughout the movie. Fun special effects made me wonder: how did they film that, was it all CGI? The story reminded me of an old sci-fi book I read 20 years ago: a single character stranded and trying to save himself. Cliche but still good.