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 Show of hands, who here has ever had a dream? Who here has ever dreamed of being an astronaut? Finally, who here has ever had the question thrown back in their face, "When's your balloon gonna land?"
Many
movies with a theme that inspires one to follow his or her dream have
been produced, but the Polish Brothers treat the movie-goer to a
refreshing version of this theme in The Astronaut Farmer.
Let's
just say Charles Farmer, portrayed with a flare of excellence by Billy
Bob Thorton, takes the message, "Failure is not an option", to a new
and dizzying height- about sixty miles high, give or take a few miles.
Charles
Farmer's dream to become an astronaut was initially dashed when NASA
expelled him from the space program. He was left to take his background
in aeronautical engineering, along with his dreams, and return home
somewhere midwest USA...to raise cattle.
For ten
years Farmer, his wife Audie (Virginia Madsen) and three children, all
of whom are appropriately named after astronauts or some celestial
body, live his dream of becoming an astronaut.
As Audie's father(Bruce Dern)puts it, the rocket ship and Farmer's dream are what holds the family together. Audie
waits on tables in the neighborhood diner as Farmer takes care of the
ranch, riding around his 360 some odd acres of land in a space
suit-literally.
Farmer
is proud of his dream and believes so much in it that he shows up to
his daughters' school for show and tell in his space suit. The teacher compliments him by saying "He sets a high standard with his costume". Outside
of this elementary school teacher, his wife, children and
father-in-law, everyone else in the town regards him as crazy.
Even
his friend, who is a loan officer at the bank, tries to desuade Farmer
by turning him down for a $50,000 loan that Farmer needs to purchase
10,000 pounds of rocket fuel. The fact that Farmer is already in $600,000 debt does not help the matter.
To make matters worse, the request for the 10,000 pounds of rocket fuel
attracts the attention of three groups of government employees better
known by their three letters each:
FBI, CIA and FAA. Upon
investigation of Farmer's rocket, and much to their dismay, the FAA and
NASA experts discover that this rocket has potential and considering
that its design is based on a ballistic missile's design, poses a
threat to national security.
Add in
the concern that, if this rocket launch is a success, it will place
NASA's $16 billion dollar space program in an embarrassing position. After
all, Farmer built his rocket from scraps and it only cost him $600,000
dollars-a far cry from $16 billion taxpayer dollars.  The Astronaut Farmer
So what's a cattle rancher to do? Well, a good place to start is to get a lawyer, which Farmer does. Kevin Munchak (Tim Blake Nelson) comes to Farmer's aid (no pun intended) and recommends he get some publicity. Mr.
Munchak welcomes the attention of CNN, as well as the local news team.
As a result, Farmer receives worldwide acclaim and favoriticism.
Even
Jay Leno jumps on the bandwagon, initially making fun of Farmer, by
making Farmer his sole target for his opening monologue on the Tonight
Show. Farmer
goes on to offer free advertising on his rocket by talking to the local
merchants such as Dunkun Donuts, Dairy Queen and the local Feed store.
In the
meantime, the FAA has its own tricks up its sleeve. They try everything
from stalling their approval on the launch, to making threats stating
they would shoot down the rocket if it launched. They even go so far as to send one of his old buddies, who is an astronaut (Bruce Willis), to talk him out of it.
His "friend" feels the idea is preposterous and tries to bribe him out of it by offering him a trip on the next shuttle mission. Farmer
realizes that none of these people, other than his lawyer, understand
that Farmer is doing this-not just to fulfill a dream to go into space,
but to set an example for his children.
Farmer's philosophy is: No matter what happens, what the cost or sacrifice, if you have a dream, don't give up! Keep in mind Farmer's dream is not just a fluff-filled idea. This dream is a vision because it's backed by a plan, perseverance, experience, scientific knowledge and know-how.
In
spite of the FAA's efforts to keep the rocket on the ground, Farmer
decides to launch his rocket and it's a wash out! He ends up almost
killing himself. Audie stands by him during his recovery,
but Farmer experiences an enormous sense of failure and begins to
question his own sanity. He thinks he should just give up on the whole
thing.
His father-in-law, Hal, convinces Farmer to stick to his dream. He points out that Farmer's dream is the glue that holds the family together. It's
this dream that offers Farmer a relationship with Sheppard, his teenage
son (Max Thieriot), that is rarely shared between father and son.
 In addition to Hal's encouraging and convincing words, he does one more good deed. He
dies, leaving the family with a small fortune, enough to pay back the
$600,000 and still leave enough left over to build a better mousetrap. Did I say mousetrap? I meant rocket. This new and improved bucket of junkyard bolts is appropriately christened "The Dreamer".
The rest you need to see for yourself.
Do I have to say this is a feel-good movie? This production is a metaphor for anyone who has ever dared to do more than just dream.
The Astronaut Farmer
represents all of those rare individuals that dare to defy the odds,
ignore naysayers, overcome obstacles, make sacrifices and embrace the
old adage, "failure is not an option".
"If at first you don't succeed (wake up from your coma) and try, try again". I
personally felt touched by this movie because I could relate to
Farmer's drive to stick to his guns, face adversity and risk failure. I, too, have had experiences where I reached for a dream and fell short, knowing that the odds would be against me. That's because I'd rather go to my grave as a failure, than lie on my deathbed wondering, "what if".
- Official Site
- Rating: PG
- Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, Tim Blake Nelson
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