Gravity review: Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in a perfect film

For most of the planet, Sandra Bullock’s real name is Miss Congeniality. When you think of her doing a film with George Clooney, you expect banter, a kiss or two and an ending that’s as sweet as a cupcake. The last thing you’d expect is that she will spend most of her screen time floating around, alone, in zero gravity, swaddled in an astronaut’s suit, without even the hint of a romantic comedy in the air. Actually, no. The last thing you’d expect is for her to be spellbinding in such a role. But that’s exactly what Bullock does in Alfonso Cuaron’s brilliant new film, Gravity. Ryan Stone (Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (Clooney) are two of a team of NASA astronauts who are out in space, repairing the Hubble Telescope. While Stone works with a newbie’s diligence on the task at hand, the veteran Kowalski bobs around with his jet pack, cracking jokes and telling stories. Everything seems to be going swimmingly. So much so that one of their colleagues, an astronaut named Sharif (Paul Sharma), who has a shockingly singsong Indian accent, starts singing “Mera joota hai Japani” in space. [caption id=“attachment_1154473” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ryan Stone (Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (Clooney) are two of a team of NASA astronauts who are out in space, repairing the Hubble Telescope.[/caption] Just then, they learn that a Russian satellite has been destroyed (by mistake) and its debris is heading in the American team’s way. Sharif, Kowalski and Stone try to scramble back to safety, but the debris is faster. Within a matter of seconds, the American space station is destroyed and the only living things out there are Stone, Kowalski and planet Earth below them. At the very beginning of Gravity is super text that tells us, “Life in space is impossible.” There is no gravity, no sound, no water, no oxygen. So how do two astronauts – one of whom has eight per cent oxygen left in their tank – survive in this terrible, beautiful setting? Can they make it back to earth? That’s the big question in Gravity. Space isn’t as unfamiliar a place for us today. The photos and videos shared by NASA and astronauts like Chris Hadfield have given us some idea of how incredible an experience it is to be a few hundred kilometres above the earth’s atmosphere. It’s for astronauts and physicists to tell whether the science of the film is accurate, but to a regular moviegoer’s eyes, Cuaron’s recreation of the shuttles, capsules, astronaut walks and space itself in Gravity feels like continuations of those NASA files. Except those videos wouldn’t have the elegance of Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography or Steven Price’s glorious soundtrack. To write a score that will reflect the emotions of a scene but won’t intrude upon the sense of immense solitude and silence of space seems an impossible task, but Price has managed this. The music meshes with Lubezki’s superb camerawork and excellent special effects, making almost every moment of Gravity a treat. One of the many spectacular moments in the film shows a satellite being destroyed by debris, but in silence. There’s no crash or boom; just complete devastation and terrifying speed. The film is filled with unforgettable images, like the sight of a tiny astronaut’s figure against an immense earth that is partially lit by the Northern Lights or the reflection of the earth on the shiny transparent globe of an astronaut’s globe. Every aspect of Gravity is so carefully considered and paced that you’ll find your pulse is beating to the rhythm of the astronauts’ breathing – racing when they panic, slowing down when they do, but not really settling until the film comes to an end. Despite being so calibrated, Gravity doesn’t feel rehearsed or like an intellectual exercise. It is a simply a story of wanting to go home; not for sentimental reasons (there isn’t anyone waiting for either Stone or Kowalski), but just to feel the sense of being rooted, of not floating around in the middle of lifelessness, of gravity. Through Bullock’s outstanding performance as Stone, Cuaron seems to suggest that against the implacable lifelessness of space, all you can rely upon is humanity. Ultimately, Gravity is a celebration of everything that makes us human. The events of the film allow the characters to showcase qualities, like courage, valour and inventiveness, as well as weaknesses because it’s the mix that makes humanity such an incredible force. The fact that grief can break us down, that a lack of oxygen can cause hallucinations, that we fear death even though it’s inevitable, these traits may be flaws but they are integral to us. There aren’t too many perfect films that get made, but Gravity is one of them. Don’t miss it.