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OCTOBER SKY Send This Review to a Friend
Backtrack to 1957 when the Russians have sent their Sputnik into
space, and a boy in a West Virginia mining town dreams of building a rocket of his own.
Based on the autobiography "Rocket Boys" about the life of Homer Hickam, Jr.,
"October Sky" tells the uplifting story of how determination and skill enable Homer, with
the aid of his pals, to surmount all obstacles and not only build and launch a rocket but
launch a career with NASA. In the process emotional father-son problems are also
surmounted.
The film, directed by Joe Johnston, is so goody-goody that it can be hard to take even
while it holds one's attention and makes one root for the lad's success. I hate the
expression "feel-good movie," but that's what this aspires to be. Jake Gyllenhaal is as
appealing as apple pie as Homer, Chris Cooper is properly obstinate as Homer's skeptical
dad, and the supporting cast members are all effective.
One thing really annoys me. Homer longs to meet his idol, none other than Wernher
von Braun, the rocket scientist who worked for the Nazis before being co-opted by our
side to help in the Cold War. The idea of von Braun as an idol sticks in my craw. I prefer
to think of Tom Lehrer's satirical lyric about on Braun's rocketry: "'Once they go up who
cares where they go down; that's not my department' says Wernher von Braun." A
Universal release.
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