Buffalo Movies: Is the Ryan Gosling vehicle a welcome return or grating reunion?

By Matthew Turner

Space: the final frontier. Also a place for actors to try to stretch their chops in solo outings without being tethered to an ensemble on-screen.

Gravity, The Martian, Ad Astra and Spaceman all serving as prime, recent examples of this challenging sensation.

Next on the block: Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary. Adapted from Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, Project Hail Mary follows yet another impossible mission that can only be fixed by one man in a last-minute insane, courageous act of selflessness.

In this story however, our relatably reluctant protagonist is joined by an alien rock! Gosling’s Dr. Ryland Grace is a schoolteacher/former biologist who is enlisted by the government to help research a potentially Earth-ending phenomenon related to his unconventional scientific theories.

The typical science buzzwords presume and flood the first act of the film, which honestly sets the film up for failure.

When you have such original voices behind the camera with Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directors of goofy hits like 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, you do not want to be bored and reminded of other, superior sci-fi tales.

Up until the film finds its footing in Grace’s charismatic extraterrestrial sidekick however, I was just thinking about Contact and Arrival. Here enters Rocky, a lone survivor alien that finds Grace’s ship and introduces himself in an effectively suspenseful sequence.

After Grace boards Rocky’s ship, he finds a companion and a friend to give his voyage the boost of confidence, and alien technology, that he needs for his monumental mission.

Is this partnership enough to save the day for our heroes? It is this character and narrative hook that propels the film past stagnant mundanity into a moving, exciting buddy sci-fi comedy.

In terms of the powers at home waiting for Grace’s mission to bring the life-saving results that they have been working toward, the film has the magnetic actress Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt (the brain of the operation).

In her American film debut, Hüller is unfortunately served an under-cooked role that gives her hardly anything to chew on aside from a karaoke scene. After all, this film is Gosling’s, and it needs to stand on his acting capabilities.

Naturally, he shines. It’s Ryan Gosling, what do you expect? He’s enough to carry the film. When aided by Rocky’s adorable and sunny personality, Project Hail Mary stands above other offerings at the multiplex.

Matthew Turner is a scholar of all things film and a teacher of English.