Space Cowboys (2000)

2 out of 4

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, James Garner, James Cromwell, Marcia Gay Harden, Loren Dean, William Devane

Director: Clint Eastwood

Time: 130 mins

It's not a novel concept - a bunch of men trained by NASA to go on a space rescue mission (Armageddon, anyone?) - but it has a novel twist: these men aren't exactly sprightly. When these would-be astronauts are played by such respected actors as tough guy Clint Eastwood, ultra-cool Tommy Lee Jones, and wily veterans Donald Sutherland and James Garner, you have one potentially interesting and fun film. But I said potentially. Though the general critical response was good, Space Cowboys suffers from overlength, little humour, and some false drama that creates hardly any tension during the supposed climax. That's disappointing, for these stars can be very charismatic indeed. While they still display some charm, especially Sutherland's can't-stop-smiling engineer, their efforts can't rescue Space Cowboys.

Frank Corbin (Eastwood), "Hawk" Hawkins (Jones), Jerry O'Neill (Sutherland) and Tank Sullivan (Garner) were part of an Air Force group training to be the first men to be sent into space during the 1950s. Their work was curtailed when upstart NASA took over the space program. 40 or so years later, they are recalled into service when an ailing Russian communications satellite named ICON is losing its orbit and is heading for Earth. With the help of engineer Sara Holland (Marcia Gay Harden), and the non-help of their former boss Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) and testy flight director Eugene Davis (William Devane), they must devise a way to rescue the satellite or halts its descent.

The structure of Space Cowboys is very similar to that of Armageddon - with the only difference being the men in Armageddon were oil riggers, not Air Force pilots or engineers. We begin with a crisis in space (asteroids in Armageddon, falling satellite in Cowboys). Naturally, there is only one team of men that can do the rescue. They get trained to be astronauts, and are then launched into space, where they encounter some crises of their own. While Armageddon is a fairly trashy movie, at least some of the aspects it concentrates on - the masculine humour and the troubles in space - are presented in a bigger dosage than in Space Cowboys. For a 130 minute movie, Space Cowboys moves fairly leisurely, relying more on its star power than anything else. The humour is subdued, which is a shame given the charisma and acting ability of the main foursome. The drama portions and the perfunctory relationships developed slow down, rather than drive, the narrative. And the action setpiece isn't even exciting, triggered as it is by the stupid actions of another crew member. At least Armageddon, in all its hyperkinetic soullessness, threw in everything bar the kitchen sink in an attempt to create some sort of suspense. Even the events in Apollo 13 were more believable, and that's not because they actually happened.

The main stars are all veterans, and their smooth, effortless acting is easy to appreciate. There's little in Space Cowboys that pushes them, however. Clint, who doubles as the film's director, is as grizzled as always, though with more of the mellow charm he's exhibited over the last decade or so in films like In the Line of Fire. James Garner's role is almost a cameo, given his little screen time, while Sutherland is funny as the always smiling, hot blooded engineer who has an eye for a woman. Jones is saddled with a thankless role that's meant to induce some heartfelt sympathy, but isn't as impressive as in his Oscar winning role for The Fugitive or the deadpan agent in Men in Black. Devane chews through his scenes, as does Cromwell in a role reminiscent of his cop character in L.A. Confidential. Sadly, lone "substantial female role" recipient Harden is pretty much lost in the sea of testosterone.

In a fairly lacklustre American summer of movies, Space Cowboys was supposed to be one of the relative highlights, with good critical reviews and decent box office. While the appeal of the stars can't be denied, there's not much in the film that doesn't feel tired or rehashed. Even the usual saving graces of action and humour are DOA. I had reasonably high hopes for Space Cowboys, but I'm sad to say I left the cinema disappointed.

(c) Joe Wong (29 October 2000)