First of all, is this film worth seeing on the big screen? Yes, it is. Not even because of Christopher Nolan or Matthew McConaughey. The biggest selling point of Interstellar is that it is a full-fledged, big-budget, epic space exploration film. There are simply not many of those, not nearly enough of them in my opinion. For that reason alone, this is something to see.
That being said, I feel that if we are to take a very close and honest look, Interstellar has a few issues. They do not take away from its strengths, but they do prevent it from really being a definitive masterpiece. Anyway, I am going to briefly run-through my thoughts and criticisms of this film.
*this will be free of spoilers*
What Interstellar does exceptionally well is develop a strong emotional core. A lot of that is on McConaughey’s back and the fact that the early part of the story is very grounded, both literally and figuratively. The stage is set with plenty of dramatic and emotional stakes, and that setup carries through the rest of the film. This is one of the more “human” of the films that Christopher Nolan has directed, in that it really finds a warm, personable level of resonance.
The other fantastic thing is the “space stuff.” There are plenty of beautiful cosmic images and gorgeous executions of space travel. Hans Zimmer’s often-lovely score provides an excellent accompaniment to those visuals. Also, for those of us who love such things, there are interesting spacecraft designs that are well-utilized in the telling of the story.
Otherwise, the cast is of course excellent and from a technical standpoint, this is a very solid and well-crafted film. Neither of those things are a surprise when it comes to a Christopher Nolan film. There are even some wonderfully unexpected but well-played moments of humor, here and there.
With all of its strengths, however, Interstellar has some weaknesses, in my opinion. The latter stages of the film introduce some new ideas to the mix—very much spoiler territory, so I won’t say anything specific—and it is in the attempt to tie everything together in a big idea that this film loses its footing. The slow-building first act and very strong second act are very focused, but the third act has less clarity on mulitiple fronts.
Now, it is very much in the tradition of films like this (including the most easily-identifiable inspiration, 2001: A Space Odyssey) to pull the proverbial rug out from under the viewer with a somewhat impressionistic, thought-provoking finish. I enjoy that sort of thing. Also, it is established that Christopher Nolan films often end with question marks and/or uncertainty hanging in the air. Unfortunately, Interstellar does not wrap up with the finesse of 2001 or the best Nolan films of the past.
Oddly, Interstellar's strength—its emotional core—is also its weakness, as it overreaches in attempting to make everything more personal, even things that do not naturally fit that.
Criticisms aside though, one of the things that I respect the most about "big" films, even those that are imperfect, is the ambition to reach for something truly great. On that level, I commend Nolan on reaching for the proverbial stars as well as the literal ones. Maybe this story just barely missed touching something unprecedentedly profound. Even so, it is a journey worth taking, full of awe and wonder and questions and the search for answers.