October Sky
First screened in April 2020
Director: Joe Johnston. Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Chris Owen, William Lee Scott, Chad Lindberg, Laura Dern, Chris Ellis, Natalie Canerday, Scott Miles, Elya Baskin, Randy Stripling, Courtney Cole-Fendley, Kaili Hollister, Don Henderson Baker, David Copeland, David Dwyer, Terry Loughlin. Screenplay: Lewis Colick (based on the memoir Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam, Jr.). Twitter Capsule:
Surely D.W. Griffith's favorite film of 1999. It's warm and workmanlike, but several of its strategies are so obvious.
VOR:③
This kind of period- and milieu-specific teen story, cognizant of adult issues, at risk of looking square, should be more common. Clunky at times, but welcome.
