Astronaut Farmer Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

LauraBelle
South Elgin, IL

Do Dreams Ever Go to Far?

Movie Reviewer, Parent of School Age Children, a storyteller, supportive wife

Pros

Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, Bruce Willis, thought-inducing

Cons

none

DEC

2007

There's nothing wrong with having dreams, but sometimes we let them take us further than they should. Watching the film Astronaut Farmer, what really had me pondering was how supportive a wife should be for her husband's crazy whacked out dreams.

Charlie Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) was once an astronaut with NASA, following up on his dreams, yet when the family farm struggled, he gave up his dream, coming home to save everything. Now years later, married with three kids, it seems he never gave up his dream to go into space. He still has all the knowledge he had when he was in the space program, yet just has no way to utilize it. What makes it worse is he has no money to finance any dream, as he's a typical farmer, struggling, in debt to the bank, with a banker who has listened to his plan to launch himself into space one too many times.

Using all the knowledge he gained from being in the space program, Charlie picks up discarded space program items, such as a space suit, and builds his own rocket in his barn. His wife, Audrey (Virginia Madsen), and children are totally supportive of this crazy dream of Charlie's to launch himself into space. At dinner ever night, they have a round of "I'm going to the moon, and I'm taking ..." The rest of the town doesn't seem as supportive, as they all think Charlie is a loon. Audrey remains supportive until she finds they are in deeper than he would admit to her with their finances, and it hits her that Charlie is more than happy to take off on his fantasy space flight, leaving her behind with all their troubles, financial and otherwise.

It was Audrey who remembered her wedding vows, promising to stick by him in sickness and in health, but she wonders if this includes mental health as well, as even she realizes Charlie has taken the whole thing way too far, as he even finds a way to get $50,000 in rocket fuel, which sets the government, and his old astronaut buddy, played by Bruce Willis in an uncredited role, on his tail. This question of hers kept me pondering this throughout the film. As a spouse, where is that line that is crossed when you stop supporting and start gently letting them know they've stepped too far into the deep end? When can you no longer just sit with a wide smile and pride in your eyes, instead having a one-sided down-turned mouth and eyes popped open in a stare?

Putting such ideas and wonderment in your head as you watch a film is always a mark of a good one. Through the writing and great acting skills in Astronaut Farmer, we feel for Audrey, not knowing when to stop being so supportive of her husband that everyone else tells her is a nutjob. Yet, we also feel for Charlie, who started his life with a simple dream, to go into space, yet ended it honorably, doing the right thing for his family and its assets. Who are we to say that he can't still live out the dream?