Space Cowboys

"I don't know how to break this to you, Frank, but you're an old man"

In a way, this is the last Western that Eastwood ever made, so it's somewhat fitting that it looks towards more futuristic territory (space) whilst exploring the kind of autumnal mythmaking that accompanies many a twilight-Western (The Shootist, Unforgiven, The Ballad of Cable Hogue). In Space Cowboys these guys are cowboys in the sense that they're recklessly heroic lone guns. The film even features soft mariarchi music. I wouldn't call this film a 'classic' but Eastwood fans will enjoy it, and it's nice to see Eastwood acting opposite other actors of his calibre (rather than the cheap and easy supporting casts he usually assembles). There are a few weak spots in the structure that prevent it from being the kind of elegant swansong to his Western heritage that he probably intended it to be, but overall it's an entertaining if lightweight adventure film.

Frank, Gerry, Hawk and Tank are strapping young airforce scientists who help lay a lot of the groundwork for America's earliest space missions back in the 1960s. They're eager to become the first men in space but find themselves betrayed by their supervisor, Bob Gerson (James Cromwell), who replaces them with a chimpanzee. Flash forward forty years later and Frank (Clint Eastwood) and pals have all moved on, some a bit more bitter than others. When an outdated Soviet satellite begins to fail in orbit, Frank is asked to help fix it. Frank uses this leverage to get himself and his former colleagues onto the shuttle aimed at the satellite. Against the odds, these old-timers finally get their shot at being astronauts - but they'll have to pass the physical first.

Frank is the bitterest character of the group, he has a temper and isn't really much of a team player (there's that Eastwoodian archetype of the lone anti-hero at play again). In his old age he's happily married and living in surburban servitude, but he's still consumed by his dreams of reaching space. Gerry (Donald Sutherland, forever armed with that sleazy grin) is the ladies man of the group, a designer and tester of rollercoasters, and the comic relief of the film. Hawk (Tommy Lee Jones) is a daredevil pilot, a nice guy and a widower who can't help but rub Frank up the wrong way. They're in an eternal pissing contest with each other, and have a love-hate relationship that drives much of the film's character interplay. The final member of the foursome is Tank (James Garner), a doddering reverend who decides to go on this senior citizen mission just for the heck of it. He's easily the least-developed character of the group (perhaps due to Garner's lack of clout in comparison to the other leads), and he seems to be in the film for no real reason at all.

There's a Cold War subplot about dodgy double-dealings shoehorned in as well, as if to prove that the film is more than a one-note joke. A lot of it plays like a realistic sci fi/action-comedy, we get cheeky moments like the scene where the four of these veterans all line up naked for their medical, and all of them (except Gerry) cover up when the female doctor comes in. There's also about a gazillion snappy lines about the heroes getting old (even the title itself is an ironic contrast between a dead genre and the futurism of space), Gerry even actually says at one point; "I'm getting too old for this shit". The satellite that they're being sent to repair has an obsolete guidance system, which fits with the theme of people having a use-by date. The eventual message that Eastwood sends is an unsurprising "Old is better", but it's pretty easy to take because he's able to poke a lot of fun at himself and his co-stars in the process.

All seems to be going fine and in a fairly dignified manner (well, dignified for a bunch of old guys cutting it up together) until the 33 minute mark when a 'Space Cowboys' rap starts playing as the four of them walk back into NASA for the first time in 40 years. It's horrible, and I'm baffled even imagining why Eastwood thought this would be okay. Shame on you Clint, I thought you were better than that! The space sequences look good, nice and crisp and highly realistic, but unfortunately the film loses some of its steam once the astronauts leave Earth. An element of tragedy feeds this latter half of the film, but it's such a contrast to all the fun and humour of the first half that it can't help but disappoint a little. I think Eastwood would've been better off making a straight up action-comedy all the way from start to finish.

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood
WRITER/SOURCE: Ken Kaufman and Howard Klausner.
KEY ACTORS: Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, James Garner, James Cromwell, Marcia Gay Harden, William Devane, Courtney B. Vance, Rade Serbedzija, Lorey Dean, Jay Leno, John Hamm

RELATED TEXTS:
- 'Realistic' sci-fi focused on space travel as we currently know it is a subgenre all of it's own, here are some other examples... Marooned, The Right Stuff, Apollo 13 and Armageddon.
- Films about old guys proving they still have what it takes... The Crew, Tough Guys, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls, The Wild Bunch and just about every Clint Eastwood film made since 1990.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - nominated for Best Sound Editing.