Gravity

By Joseph McAleer, Catholic News Service

Hold on tight for the ride of your life in “Gravity”, a lost-in-space adventure as exhilarating as it is terrifying.

Director Alfonso Cuaron (“Children of Men”), who co-wrote the screenplay with his son Jonas, serves up a modern-day horror story with top-notch performances and dazzling 3-D cinematography that envelops the audience in the majesty of space.

The film’s life-or-death scenario evokes the spirit of the 2011 movie “Apollo 18.” But the danger here doesn’t come from aliens as it did in that feature. Instead, it results from all-too-human technology gone badly wrong.

Amid the mayhem, “Gravity” has another, deeper story to tell, as the nearness of death provokes reflections on mortality and the afterlife.

The space shuttle is in orbit 370 miles above Earth, and astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are outside it, making repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope. The two crewmates are chalk and cheese: Stone the cool, reserved scientist on her first mission; Kowalski the cocky veteran, a fun-loving space cowboy with the gift of the gab who’s savoring his final voyage.

“Houston, I have a bad feeling about this mission,” Kowalski quips lightheartedly to mission control before breaking into another yarn as his favorite country music plays in the background.

Kowalski’s levity is misplaced. When the Russians launch a missile against a spy satellite, it causes a chain reaction in space, raining debris on the astronauts. Within seconds, the shuttle is destroyed, and Kowalski and Stone are the only survivors, cut off from Earth and spiraling into outer space.

What ensues is “E.T.” in reverse, as our plucky marooned humans search for a way to go home (where gravity is taken for granted). With Kowalski steering his jet pack and Stone on a tether, they make their way to the nearest oasis, the International Space Station, where more challenges await.

To describe what happens next would be a spoiler. Suffice it to say that, in the deafening silence of space, the duo has plenty of time to meditate as they stare death in the face.

For Stone, this is an epiphany. She laments that she is alone in the world, mourning the loss of her only child in an accident years ago. “Who will pray for my soul?” she asks.

While she admits that she has never prayed herself, she regrets that no one ever taught her how.

Such feelings are hardly surprising when the possibility of death is imminent. But “Gravity” – which provides a rare combination of enlightenment and excitement – uses these sentiments as stepping stones toward a resolution that viewers of faith will find both satisfying and refreshingly pro-life.

In view of its underlying significance, and despite the elements listed below, some parents may consider “Gravity” acceptable for mature adolescents.

The film contains scenes of intense peril and horror, brief gore, at least one use of profanity and a few crude expressions. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Jobs

By Kurt Jensen, Catholic News Service

“Jobs” (Open Road) may not be the worst biographical film ever made. But it certainly earns an unenviable place in the pantheon of lame screen profiles.

Ashton Kutcher, directed by Joshua Michael Stern from a script by Matt Whiteley, portrays Steve Jobs (1955-2011), the founder of the Apple computer empire, as an amoral, monomaniacal tyrant who cheats all who come into contact with him. When he’s not abusing co-workers, he’s being roundly applauded, in the manner of a Broadway star, on his way to becoming a self-proclaimed technology guru.

The ugly truths about Jobs’ self-centered personality have been widely documented. So too has the boardroom battle that briefly ousted him from Apple, only to have him noisily return a few years later, evicting his opponents along the way. That’s all here, right down to his annoying habit of always parking in a handicapped spot at corporate headquarters.

No one should expect biographies of highly driven people to show them without flaws or moral compromises. “Jobs,” however, fails abysmally at fundamental storytelling.

How did this man get the way he was? It’s not here. There’s only the outward behavior, which veers wildly between narcissism and schizophrenia.

Especially troubling is the sequence in which Jobs kicks live-in girlfriend Chris-Ann Brennan (Ahna O’Reilly) out of his house simply because she’s pregnant and he doesn’t want to take any responsibility for the baby.

Some years later, we see the child in question, Lisa (Annika Bertea), sleeping on the couch at Jobs’ palatial home. How did she get there? We’re left to guess.

When not hectoring colleagues, like the strangely faithful Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad), or cheating his co-founders out of stock options as Apple is about to become a publicly traded corporation, Jobs speaks in aphorisms as inspirational music swells. “How does anybody know what they want if they’ve never even seen it?” he asks.

By the time he’s introducing the iPod, his cult of personality is in full force, and he’s emitting platitudes such as “When you can touch somebody’s heart, that’s limitless.”

Rival corporations such as IBM and Microsoft appear only in discussions. At one point, Jobs calls up Bill Gates at Microsoft and curses him for allegedly stealing software ideas.

Whatever these two men’s respective places in history may turn out to be, the stultifying “Jobs” sadly gives us no more insight into its chosen subject than it does into his unseen rival.

The film contains cohabitation, two scenes of drug use, a couple of instances of profanity and frequent crass language. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

 

Paranoia

By John Mulderig, Catholic News Service

Though the twisting path of its plot feels well-rutted, the corporate conspiracy thriller “Paranoia” does chart its protagonist’s journey to a morally respectable version of personal redemption.

Along the way, viewers are invited to join him in rejecting the ethical nihilism that frequently surrounds him in the cutthroat milieu that provides the film’s setting – and to embrace old-fashioned standards of right and wrong instead.

The flagrant character defects our future hero initially displays show just how far he has to go: Consumed by materialistic visions of the good life, and by envy-driven ambition, computer whiz-kid Adam Cassidy (Liam Hemsworth) does not react well to being professionally thwarted.

So when a pitch to his callous boss, Nicholas Wyatt (Gary Oldman), goes horribly wrong and gets his entire tech team fired, Adam seeks revenge by using his company credit card to fund a high-rolling nightlong bender for himself and his unfortunate colleagues.

Waking up beside the fetching stranger who caught his eye on the dance floor during the binge – and whose name he still doesn’t know – Adam finds he has more to cope with than just social awkwardness and a hangover. Hauled into Wyatt’s office, he’s given an unpleasant choice: Face prosecution for his illicit expenditure or cooperate in Wyatt’s plan to bring down rival CEO Jock Goddard (Harrison Ford).

Once Wyatt’s mentor and partner, Goddard has become his prime competitor and bitterest enemy. Wyatt wants Adam to infiltrate Goddard’s outfit so he can gain access to the game-changing new product they’re about to launch.

Once undercover, Adam falls for Emma Jennings (Amber Heard), one of Goddard’s top executives. He also finds himself drawn to Goddard, whose polished manner is a welcome contrast to Wyatt’s brutish demeanor.

Back home, Adam resolutely ignores the sensible guidance offered him by his working-class father Frank (Richard Dreyfuss). After all, he reasons, what would someone who stayed in the same job his whole life and who showed no longing for wealth or power know about anything?

As Adam works his way back to the positive values with which he was raised, he finds an acceptable (though farfetched) resolution to his professional dilemma and deepens his bonds with Emma.

Though the two gradually move toward genuine commitment, as earlier scenes have shown us, both Adam and Emma operate from the flawed premise that romantic relationships begin with a physical connection and either flourish or wither away after that.

Overall, “Paranoia” conveys a sound enough message, but the story used to deliver it seems stale.

The film contains some action violence, semi-graphic premarital sexual activity, an off-screen casual encounter, numerous sexual jokes and references, a couple of uses of profanity, at least one rough term and occasional crude and crass language.  Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.