One has to credit Ryan Gosling’s agent, for the man never seems to have embarked on an outright bad project throughout his movie career, as evidenced by his latest flick Project Hail Mary.
The Canadian star of hits such as 2023’s Barbie and 2016’s La La Land has once again hit one out of the ballpark with his latest film Project Hail Mary, the cinematic adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel of the same name.
And it must be said that his performance in this particular film (which has proven to be a box office success) is all the more outstanding, due to how he mostly shares screentime with a literal rock… It all makes sense in context, so watching the film is encouraged.
Saving the sun
The film in set a world where the Sun is starting to die, being slowly devoured by alien microbes. In fact, stars throughout the galaxy are dying from the same infection, except one: Tau Ceti, located a long 12 years away from Earth.
Gosling plays high school teacher Ryland Grace who wakes up on a spaceship nearing Tau Ceti, with little memory of how he got there and what he is meant to be doing there.
His confusion and fear only increases when he discovers that he is not the only creature investigating what is keeping this particular star alive. For right outside his window, an alien vessel many times the size of his own looms overhead.
Thankfully, its sole inhabitant is a friendly five-legged, rock-like alien, appropriately named “Rocky” after the Sylvester Stallone character. Like Ryland, he had been sent by his planet to learn the reason behind Tau Ceti’s continued survival.
With few resources and even fewer choices, human and alien band together to solve the mystery, while forming a comically adorable, touching friendship with one another. Of course, danger and trouble are never far away.
Star-powered project
While acting alongside a big cast is a worthy challenge of its own, acting alone with nothing but a puppet for company is a different matter altogether.
And yet, Gosling does an amazing job in being equal parts convincing and relatable. When he sheds tears onscreen, there is a high chance you will start tearing up with him.
His character of Ryland is an everyday man, not a hero. In fact, the only reason he is on this perilous expedition to begin with is because he was forcibly recruited. Yet, despite his confusion and despair, he ultimately rises to the occasion and we cheer him along all the way.
Speaking of cheers, three cheers for Rocky, the showstealer! The bromance that exists between humans and rocks has never been stronger ever since he appeared on the silver screen.
Heart of Project Hail Mary
In fact, the relationship between Ryland and Rocky are the core of the film, surpassing even the mystery of the dying stars. There are great jokes to be made, of course, but there is also genuine heart in how the two very different creatures grow to care for each other.
It would have been very easy for directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to have turned Rocky into a comedic sidekick. Thankfully, he is a legitimate character with genuine depth and he remains endearing rather than annoying.
And even if you are not one for bromance films, the film’s cinematography is worth the ticket price alone. If you grew up admiring the beauty of space, Project Hail Mary will remind you just why you did so.
If Weir’s other novel-turned-movie The Martian is about a man surviving the unsurvivable, then Project Hail Mary is about how any problem can be solved, provided you have a faithful wingman (or wingrock) by your side, with some nifty engineering skills.
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