Friday, October 4, 2013

Gravity (2013) Review

4.5/5

The film starts and you're in it. That's the whole thing, the end game, the kit and kaboodle. This is as immersive an experience as you're likely to ever have at the cinema, and it is for this reason that you MUST seek it out on as large a 3D screen you can find. IMAX, IMAX, IMAX. Drive as far as you need to. Do whatever you must. The experience is worth it.
The single best visual showcase is housed within the frames of this film. I have never been as blown away by the visual component of a film as I was with this one. The cinematography is mind-blowing effective, which doesn't surprise me since Lubezki is at the camera, and it absolutely deserves the Oscar and yes I can say that now.
The score is a kind of wonderful nightmare, wrapping you in a sense of incredible foreboding while shaking you to your core and simultaneously inviting you to enjoy the beauty of the space-driven world. Steven Price may well be riding this to an Oscar, or at the very least a nomination, and it is well deserved. Tell me if your stomach isn't still rumbling when you're leaving the theater. Tell me if the underlying silence isn't a sort of brilliant miracle.
The acting is captivating and effective, as Sandra Bullock and George Clooney make us believe they are trapped in space. I'm not sure why they were given at points silly dialogue, but in a film like this all I can dock is .5 points because the experience is so visceral it just about doesn't matter.
Alfonso CuarĂ³n has the finesse of a classic filmmaker. I've always admired the long takes and shot selection in his work, and here he most certainly does not disappoint. Since I refuse to divulge any plot details, I can only recommend the experience: take my word for it, it is well worth the price of admission.


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