A Boy and His Buddy

Andy Weir went from struggling to get his first novel, The Martian, published to having three successful novels in a row. Two of them, so far, have been turned into major motion pictures, The Martian and, now, Project Hail Mary. And as far as his films have gone, he’s hit two-for-two on them as well (Artemis, his second novel, has been stuck in development hell in Hollywood for a while, partially because most fans of the author agree that the novel was actually pretty shitty). The Martian made $630.6 Mil during its Box Office run (turning it into a massive hit), and currently Project Hail Mary has had one hell of an opening weekend, scoring $141 Mil so far, ranking it as Amazon MGM’s biggest opening of all time. Andy Weir, one could argue, is Box Office gold.

Of course, Hollywood has to actually know what to do with what Weir writes. His books are a blend of solid character drama along with hard sci-fi. The Martian gained acclaim for its deep scientific research, and that was reflected in the movie which (as the lead character says), scienced the shit out of the material. For Project Hail Mary, Weir put in the same level of care and detail, letting the novel’s main character focus on the science before them to solve the problems they had to solve. It made for a deep and interesting read that pleased the author’s fans. Hollywood, though, couldn’t quite stick the landing this time.

Let me be clear, I like Project Hail Mary. I like it a lot. I know plenty of people that absolutely rave about this film (including my wife). But while I really think the film nails many of its beats, especially the dynamic between the lead characters, it doesn’t really get enough focus on the science at the heart of the story. Clocking in at just over two-and-a-half hours, the film feels like it needs a slightly longer cut (by maybe fifteen minutes) to balance the great characters with the science fans crave. That would take the film and raise it from great to superb.

Roland Grace (Ryan Gosling) was a middle school science teacher who was cast down to the teaching ranks from a different career after he stated that “water isn’t necessary for the development of extraterrestrial life.” This made him something of a pariah in scientific circles, but he found his true calling teaching kids about science. However, when a strange phenomena is discovered in the Sun, black dots that seem to be obscuring and reducing the heat and light coming from the star, Grace is tapped by a world science organization to research the phenomenon, known as Astrophages, and see what makes them tick.

What he discovers how these parasites work, how they breed, and what kind of potential energy these creatures could provide. A spaceship powered on Astrophages could cross interstellar space in years, not lifetimes. That is needed because these creatures are eating up the sun and if something isn’t done to fight them off, all life in the Solar System (and, in fact, in just about every solar system) will be wiped out. Grace ends up on the crew with two astronauts so he can be the one to do the science needed at a distant star, one that seems unaffected by Astrophages, and discover why these creatures can’t thrive at this one location. But during their transit to the star, everyone else on board dies, leaving Grace alone. It’s only with the arrival of another vessel at the distant star, itself with just a single occupant (eventually named “Rocky”) looking to solve the mysteries of the Astrophages, that Grace just might find a solution he can send back home.

What science we get in Project Hail Mary is decently sound. Although there’s some aspects we have to handwave away a little, like the fact that astronauts are sent off in cryosleep, something that doesn’t yet exist in our timeline, most of the science used in the film feels on point. Space organisms are possible, as are other, extraterrestrial civilizations. By and large the story works well enough balancing hard and soft sci-fi that you never feel like the film is completely making up technobabble to try and build a sci-fi story free of science.

The best part of the film are the stars of the show. Ryan Gosling, who has quickly become a go-to actor in Hollywood productions, absolutely nails it here. He’s got a little of the himbo charm he showed in films like Barbie and The Fall Guy, all backed by a sweet and honest performance. He never feels pretentious in his movies, and that especially makes Grace a character you can like because he feels honest. A little silly, a little jokey, but still pretty honest. He is the default kind of character Weir is good at writing (as you could see, with a name change, the hero from The Martian fitting perfectly in this story) but that works well in context.

Rocky, the space alien he meets, is a charming little ball of silica. Voiced and operated by puppeteer James Ortiz, Rocky is full of charm. He’s got a bit of that Baby Yoda cuteness to him, clearly engineered to pull at heart strings and sell toys, but you can’t hate him for that. He’s the right kind of cute but fun that makes him a playful partner for Gosling’s Grace. Plus you have to love the fact that he’s a practical effect. In a film packed full of CGI work for all the interstellar vistas and exterior space shots, having a real, firm puppet in the film gives the movie a tactile, solid quality.

Plus, the fiendship between the two drives the movie. This might be a sci-fi story about two guys trying to stop a plague destroying all the stars in the galaxy, but it’s really a bro-comedy about two dudes. They meet, they find friendship, and then they form a life long bond that could stretch across the stars. My wife said, “more than once the film almost made me cry,” and that feels like a pretty good gauge for a relationship in a film. If it makes you feel something, pulling at your heart strings, then it’s done its job properly.

Really the only complaint I have with the film, and it’s a small one in the grand scale, is that the science isn’t really a major part of the story. The film was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who also headed up the Spider-verse films), with a script by Drew Goddard (who also wrote The Martian), and it feels like the science is there, in the background, waiting to come out. Whether the script didn’t include as much of it, or it’s just a matter of it mostly falling back the wayside during the editing process, the movie is very much engineered to focus on the relationship between the two leads and not so much the science they’re focusing on.

Which sucks because it really does feel like the science they’re working on is pretty cool. A montage or two of them really digging in and discovering better what’s going on with the Astrophages is all that would be needed to raise the film up just a little bit more. Maybe it didn’t play for test audiences, as I could see some real tech talk being considered a “distraction” from the central relationship. I know it’s in the book, the science just didn’t make it to the screen.

Still, there’s a lot to like about Project Hail Mary, and it seems like most people absolutely love this film. I’m probably the weirdo out there that just wanted a touch more science than what we got in this science fiction story. That doesn’t change that so much of this film works well. It does deserve to have its grand time in the spotlight because, yeah, Grace and Rocky are awesome, and the film looks fantastic. An original idea doing well in Hollywood is a rare thing. I’m glad it’s succeeding, and I do encourage anyone interested to check out the film. It might not have enough science for my tastes, but everything else in the film (no pun intended) rocks.