he story of Space Cowboys begins in 1958, when four Air Force test pilots--Frank (Eastwood), Hawk (Jones), Tank (Garner), and Jerry (Sutherland), who fully expected to take part in the burgeoning space program got pushed aside when the government created NASA and charged that organization with the job of exploring space. (Actually, younger men play the four in the film's opening flashback, disconcertingly voiced, however, by the four stars.) All of them moved on into different careers, their dreams of space dashed forever.
Or so they thought. Cut to the modern day when an ailing, obsolete Russian communications satellite is in serious need of repair, but no engineer or astronaut can make sense of its pre-microprocessor guidance system. The system turns out to be identical to the one Frank designed for Skylab decades ago, so he's called in to consult. But Frank's not interested in advising. He wants to go to space. The only way the bird will get fixed, he insists, is if he and his four old pals go up there and do it themselves.
Amazingly, NASA agrees, although it's assumed that the four geezers will wash out of the training program well before the launch. Several astronaut training montages later, the story breaks in the press and the team becomes an overnight media sensation. Soon NASA has to send them. Sure, the team is old, but they were the best in their day and are still in good shape. And the mission should be a cakewalk.
But the environment of space is an unforgiving one, where no mistakes are allowed.
Inspiring or expiring?
This is really two movies in one. First, there's the ground-based movie about four old guys getting one last chance to fly in space, having to buck the system and prove themselves through guts, courage and wit. That particular movie is painfully slow. It's also thin, clichéd, trite and boring. The animosity between Frank and Bob Gerson (Cromwell), the bureaucrat who oversees the mission, comes across as forced. The supposedly long-standing rivalry between Frank and Hawk is also strained and serves no purpose except to give Eastwood and Jones something to say. And so many people tell Frank he's not a team player, it begins to sound like a drinking game.
Then comes the second movie, a thrilling adventure set high in Earth's orbit. This is a better movie, laden with eye-catching special effects and some fairly scary moments. The plot here finally manages to suppress most of the first film's stupider themes, and it moves along briskly. Still, some allegedly MIT-trained best and brightest do some alarmingly dumb things. Inspiring speeches are made while, groundside, women weep and wring their hands. By this point, who's surprised when the film goes over the top?
It's sad to see an ensemble of powerful actors like these squandered. Sad, too, that a pretty fun premise got fumbled. Space buffs will enjoy this film--it has a good amount of NASA action, filmed both at the Johnson Space Center and the Kennedy Space Center. But viewers looking for an inspiring, feel-good story with great actors who give ageism a good punch in the nose--well, they'll be disappointed and, in all likelihood, annoyed.
