The Midnight Sky

There is a version of this movie in an alternate timeline that is like a Roland Emmerich movie. Just wall to wall action sequences, no pausing for air, no character development. It would probably be more entertaining in the short term, but it would also be entirely forgettable in the long term. Because the story isn’t about surviving the catastrophe; it’s about the people who survived it. To that end, it does a decent job. It’s got some pacing issues, as there’s two stories its telling, and sometimes, it lingers too long on one or the other. It also gets a bit melodramatic in its design; George Clooney loves him some Old Hollywood-style melodrama, so some scenes are designed to wring out every last tear, often with a score that is so saccharine, Wilford Brimley will want to have a talk with you afterwards. And it’s not a terribly hopeful movie. But it is a finely acted movie, and a beautifully shot movie to boot. I mean, duh, Clooney’s good, but you don’t need me telling you that. And Felicity Jones is also excellent, but again, duh. But the rest of the cast is here to play too, and every one of them shows up in a big way. Especially young Caoilinn Springall, who plays Iris, and while she has one line and one laugh, acts like she’s been doing this for four times her lifetime. And Clooney knows how to use the camera and the landscape to sell a moment, often in silence. He has a deft touch. There’s a lot to appreciate about this film. It might be trying to be a little more than it really is, but what it does achieve, it does so with strength and grace. For all the awkward pacing moments or arch melodrama, I’d take that over BAYSPLOSIONS any day.