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Astronaut Farmer, The
EMAILPRINTWarner Independent Pictures
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 28 votes
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Mark Polish
Michael Polish
Directed by: Michael Polish
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 23, 2007
DVD: July 10, 2007
Running Time: 104 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG for thematic material, peril and language
Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, Bruce Dern, Jon Gries, Tim Blake Nelson, Sal Lopez, J.K. Simmons, and Kiersten Warren
From the time he was a child, Charles Farmer (Thornton) had only one goal: to be an astronaut. Even when he is forced to drop out of NASA's astronaut training program to deal with a family situation, he refuses to let anything stand in the way of his dream. When, on the eve of the long-anticipated launch of his barn-built rocket, Farmer faces a new set of obstacles, he is determined o reach his goal no matter the odds. (Warner Bros.)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Jackpot Northfork Twin Falls Idaho
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
After teeny indies, this studio release retains the trademark love of warped American gothic that the Polishes share with David Lynch and the brothers Ethan and Joel Coen. But the unexpected streak of yearning sunniness -- the Spielbergian touch of boyhood dreams propelling a grown man -- gives The Astronaut Farmer a warmth that's new for them.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
This is gloriously self-aware hokum, a fantasy movie that is, above all, about our need for fantasy and escapism -- and even our need for movies like The Astronaut Farmer -- to help us combat the depression and disappointments of the everyday.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
Much of the credit for the movie succeeding goes to Thornton. In his able hands, Farmer is not so much someone who simply has faith in what he is doing but a man who believes with incontrovertible knowledge of what can be accomplished.
Read Full Review >Premiere Stephen Saito
Still, the film actually earns the description of being inspirational, not only to those of us with a dream, but to those who thought the quality family film had died long ago.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
The Astronaut Farmer is one of those movies that makes an audience want to cheer and clap.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
It's hard not to like a movie so determined to make you feel the love of a family, to make you feel that every dream can become a reality and that every mortgage - no matter how close to foreclosure - can be rescued by the sudden death of a family member and his inheritance.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
The Astronaut Farmer stalls narratively in the third act, but rest assured it finally achieves liftoff. See it before it disappears into the ether.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
The Astronaut Farmer's goofy quality makes it totally endearing. It's also super entertaining. Critics are fond of referring to movies as a "great ride." With this one, the words couldn't be more apt.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Sure, it's the corniest of conceits, but "Astronaut" taps delightfully into one of our deepest cultural values: the one about the pursuit of happiness. And the movie's unpretentious lightheartedness, which echoes the old-fashioned, corn-fed lore of Frank Capra, or even "The Andy Griffith Show," makes it blissfully easy to sign on for this good-natured voyage.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Sura Wood
The Astronaut Farmer, is goofy, wholesome and, well, sweet. Despite some droll humor and on-target political jabs delivered deadpan by a uniformly strong cast, "Astronaut" often is too corny for its own good; it could have used more of those zingy lines.
Read Full Review >Variety Dennis Harvey
Thornton carries the film with relaxed authority, though the earnest tone doesn't let him explore the nuttier aspects of a character who, from any reasoned distance ought look more screwy than heroic. Madsen is radiant.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Robert Wilonsky
This movie works precisely because it's bereft of modern cinema's cynicism.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
The opening shots, of Farmer on horseback in his space suit, hint at a strangeness that the rest of the movie never quite lives up to, but it does have a visual freshness that makes the bromides and clichés palatable.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Too odd for a studio movie, too cornpone for the independent scene, The Astronaut Farmer finds its creators stuck awkwardly between worlds, making what amounts to a deep curiosity.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
If the Polish brothers haven't quite mastered the mechanics of mainstream filmmaking, they have succeeded in bringing an independent spirit to the studio film.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Fans of the Polish brothers and fans of inspirational movies may all depart the theatre scratching their heads: The Astronaut Farmer is not exactly the movie any of these viewers expected to see. This is almost always a good thing – even if the movie is a deserved head-scratcher.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
The result is a modestly accomplished, modestly agreeable, altogether forgettable film.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
As stories go, The Astronaut Farmer is engaging, even if it serves up a kind of Plains State brand of Rocky-esque hooey.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Wobbles between its comic and dramatic concerns; even those who buy the film more wholeheartedly than I might consider the overall tone uncertain.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Before The Astronaut Farmer, I'd have said such dumbed-down filmmaking was beneath the Polish brothers. But if their dream is to ride Hollywood's gravy train once, I suppose I'll have to respect it.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Rarely have I seen a movie which made me feel more skeptically Canadian. Please -- it's not true that you can do anything. Stop trying. You might make things worse.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Painfully earnest, The Astronaut Farmer is, sad to say, a bunch of hooey. It's Frank Capra without the genuine heart, certainly without any sense of perspective.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Janice Page
The real problem with The Astronaut Farmer is that it has no spark.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
In most cases, doggedly pursuing a dream is laudable. But if it does nothing else, The Astronaut Farmer demonstrates that not every dream is worth pursuing. At least not the belabored one of a narcissistic crackpot masquerading as an admirable dreamer.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Some movies are so flagrantly awful that they achieve classic status. To this rarefied company we must now add The Astronaut Farmer.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The oddest thing about this very odd movie is that it doesn't seem to know what to make of itself.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 28 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Ryan gave it a3:
Oh so boring..I could barely sit through this movie. I don't like the comparison of this to field of dreams.
Bobby r. gave it a1:
Disjointed attempt at following dreams. The result is living through a nightmare. Self centered man takes advantage of every one in his life.
PnArdy PnArdy gave it a6:
It would have been great movie if they kept it real. The idea of the private space travel is brilliant, but no single farmer could possibly accomplish such a huge and challenging task, launch himself into space and then return to Earth successfully.
Brendan gave it a2:
With a terrible tittle and a boring storyline The Astronaut Farmer has everything to make a terrible drama. The only thing that gets this films a 2/10 is a pretty well off performance from Billy Bob Thornton. He actually makes you smile a little bit when he finally succeeds. But personally a found myself looking around waiting for something exciting or dramatic to happen and when it does you've been dozing off too long to notice it. I don't think this would appeal to almost any audience it's not good for families, teens, adults or any moviegoers. If I were you I'd rather sit at home.
Chad S. gave it a4:
Comparing "Field of Dreams" to Michael Polish's "The Astronaut Farmer" makes sense only if Kevin Costner's character built the ballpark and the children of the corn showed up to kill his family. As filmmakers of two well-received indies on their resumes ("Twin Falls Idaho" & "Northfork"), The Polish Brothers might very well be pulling a fast one on audiences, and the unsuspecting studio who financed this bizarre movie about a family under siege by their daft patriarch, masquerading as a feel good-film about following your dreams. If you're a sane and rational human being, you're rooting against Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) from blasting off into outer space. He's endangering his family's lives (a line drive-foul ball is nothing compared to a wayward rocket), and compromising the quality of his children's future(should they escape the path of that wayward rocket). Audrey (Virginia Madsen) appears so nonchalant about her husband's potential for instantaneous incineration, you wonder if there's a million-dollar payoff(in case of accidental death) on some unseen life insurance policy. When she tells Charles that people think his subordinates belong to a cult, that she and the children have been brainwashed; you think(and this is why the film is subversive and perhaps, self-aware), yes, I do agree with the townsfolk's assessment that Audrey's been drinking the farmer's kool-aid for far too long. If the filmmakers' intent were to make an inspirational film about a congenial sociopath, "The Astronaut Farmer" is an unqualified success. What occurs as the end credits roll has the unmistakable appearance of having been tacked on(the extra scene runs contrary to the information we're given), you suspect, after test audiences registered what I registered as "The Astronaut Farmer" faded to black; that Charles Farmer is a manipulative, narcissistic jerk.
Billy B. gave it a0:
When watching this movie, you get no sense of imagination that this could really happen. Along with bad acting, this movie has fake mushy moments and doesnt deliver that wow feeling you want to receive when you watch it. And not only does no one (especially his wife) see that this is the stupidest idea ever, but [***SPOILER***] after he crashes the first one, he builds another! What a disgrace of a movie
Donald T. gave it an8:
This film is a great Saturday or Sunday cinema film. The acting and direction is great......overall the film does exactly what it says. Worth seeing just for the scenary alone.
