Inspiring movies come in all shapes and sizes. Case in point: The Astronaut Farmer. The absurd plot of a retired air-force-pilot-turned-family-ranch-hand (named Charles Farmer) who decides to build a space rocket in his barn seems too far-fetched for even Hollywood's tastes. Yet, no less than 20 minutes into this heartfelt film, the audience couldn't care less.
Farmer is touchingly played by Billy Bob Thornton as a man who never let go of his dream, despite not becoming an astronaut in his youth. In massive debt from his rocket building, Farmer's house is approaching foreclosure. With 30 days left until the bank seizes his ranch, he decides to launch his rocket before the deadline, promptly removing his kids from school so they can help him finish. When a teacher protests his taking his son out of the classroom, Farmer retorts, "You're teaching him how to read history, ma'am - I'm going to teach him how to make it." Soon, the FBI are show up thinking there's a ballistic missile in his barn and ignite a media storm.
Throughout it all, the warmth that the director-writer brother duo of Michael and Mark Polish and the fantastic cast bring to the story is too genuine to ignore. More than the shrewd post-9/11 political commentary in the film (the tyrannical government attempting to stop the launch), Farmer is about the conflict between pursuing a dream and being there for family. A touching and poignant film one can't help but enjoy.
