In Ad Astra, Brad Pitt plays an astronaut sent on a top-secret mission when new information comes to light about the mission where his father disappeared decades earlier. His journey takes him to the far reaches of our Solar System, but it’s not the physical distances that wear on him; it’s the emotional toll of being forced to face himself and the man he’s become. This isn’t really the space epic it was billed as, in my opinion; yes, it has great special effects and a suitably grand score by Max Richter, but this is really an intimate character study that just happens to take place on a journey through space. And, boy, does it work. Does it ever. Pitt’s given a lot of really fine performances over the years, but this one is, in my opinion, his very best; it’s minimal and repressed, but as the movie unfolds Pitt lets us into the secret emotional world of this locked-down man and we find that he’s a man that is profoundly suffering and has been for a long time. The film has a grim, emotionally barren voice-over and this kind of thing can often feel cheesy or ponderous, but Pitt’s performance is pitch perfect and the overall effect of his performance is emotionally devastating. It’s a really brave performance as well; for a big wide-release film like this, it’s surprising how little Pitt tries to be likable or even sympathetic.
The rest of the film around Pitt is also really great. Gray imbues his journey with real weight; as Pitt travels farther and farther from Earth, the isolation and the tension mount. A couple of really fantastic sequences kind of point up what kind of space movie this wants to be. The first is a convoy across the surface of the moon; it’s stark and genuinely other-worldly, but it has a visual beauty that really knocked me out. Later, there’s a sequence where a crew of astronauts encounter a derelict vessel and the sequence of the astronauts exploring the seemingly abandoned ship is like a sequence from a horror movie, incredibly suspenseful and building to a fantatic climax. The supporting cast is really well-used, in my opinion; I’ve heard some people say that they didn’t like the way the supporting characters float in and out of the film, but I found it to be really effective and more realistic than if any of those characters had just accompanied Pitt on his journey. Ruth Negga, in particular, is downright excellent in her small role and Natasha Lyonne gets a really clever cameo. Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones aren’t exactly given anything new to do, but it’s good to see the old stalwarts getting to be in a good movie again. Anyway, I really, really loved this movie. I fear that it’s not going to find the audience it needs because it’s been mismarketed and I fear that it’s too subtle to also get much attention in awards season, though I’d be happy to be proved wrong on either of those scores. James Gray isn’t a director I have had a tremendous amount of facility for in the past. But with Ad Astra, he’s created a genuine masterpiece, a movie with the soul of an indie and the trappings of a blockbuster, a character study and exploration of isolation with some stunning visuals and a cosmic backdrop. 4 stars.
tl;dr – moody, introspective character study features Pitt’s best performance and a great ensemble; stunning visuals, but not the blockbuster it’s been marketed as. 4 stars.