Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern
Running Time: 107 minutes
Synopsis: In October 1957, the world is mesmerized by the surprise Soviet launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first satellite. In the small mining community of Coalwood, West Virginia, high school student Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is inspired to start building his own amateur rockets. He receives support from teacher Miss Riley (Laura Dern) and a small group of friends, but his father John (Chris Cooper), the mine's manager, wants Homer to stop dreaming and focus on a mining career.
What Works Well: The adaptation of Hickam's book combines inspirational ambition with a gritty small town environment to forge a heart-warming story, spiced with thorny family dynamics and moments of humour. Joe Johnston directs with an economy of purpose, and a young Jake Gyllenhaal capably portrays a young Homer Hickam stubbornly seeking to define his own destiny. In a setting where all young men are expected to follow their dads into the mine, the father-son tension crackles beneath the scientific experimentation, as Homer's defiant determination to launch rockets high into the sky translates into a college scholarship lottery ticket.
What Does Not Work As Well: In this small town, the winds of predictability are strong.
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