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USA 1995
Directed by
Ron Howard
140 minutes
Rated PG

Reviewed by
Bernard Hemingway
3 stars

Apollo 13

Ron Howard’s exciting real life space adventure is at its best in its detailed recreation of the mechanics of the April 1970 mishap when Apollo 13 malfunctioned leaving the three astronauts on board stranded in outer space. It is less impressive when it comes to the dramatization of the human story.

Toggling between the spaceship in which Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) are trapped and NASA where under the guidance of Mission Controller Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) a fleet of front line technicians race against time to work out how to get the men back home under unprecedented circumstances Apollo 13 is as intense a ride as it should be without recourse to any artifice (it deservedly won Oscars for sound design and editing). Indeed the film’s tech crew deserve as much if not more praise for the authenticity as does Howard.

Unfortunately when it comes to personalizing the story Howard and scriptwriters William Broyes Jr. and Al Reinert fall back on familiar devices, macho heroics on the one hand, sentimentalism on the other and the film lack the intelligence of Phillip Kauffman’s The Right Stuff (1983) which deals with similar themes.

This is most apparent in dealing with original Apollo 13 crew member Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) who was bounced from the mission at the 11th hour with suspected measles and replaced by Jack Swigert. He is ultimately recouped when the mission goes wrong and he is called in to help with the rescue. This no doubt was true in essence but Howard’s directing of it is so heavy-handed as to feel contrived.  Similar remarks apply to his treatment of Lovell’s hornbag wife (Kathleen Quinlan) as she plays the standardly-conceived loving spouse. tearing up as hubby sails around the Moon or getting tough with NASA administrators.

Whilst these conventionalities lessen the film it nevertheless tells a gripping true life story with a substantial degree of realism brought to life by three effective lead performances.

 

 

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