In a year where we have been desperate for some big film to come along and bring us that feeling, we all go to theaters for, we finally have one. The idea of the blockbuster has mostly disappeared this year due to the pandemic, but Netflix is here to rescue us with a big space adventure to wrap up the year. Or are they? George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky opens this week with the task of bringing a space adventure to the small screen? Does it pull it off? Unfortunately not. Despite its best efforts, this film has not a clue what it wants to be and stumbles at being as serious as it thinks it is.
The Midnight Sky takes place in the year 2049 where the world has suffered a catastrophe and most life that is still around now lives underground. Augustine is a scientist who is suffering from cancer and spends his days at an arctic research facility where he is stuck as the world falls apart. One day he discovers that the astronauts who were sent to find another planet to live on, a planet he discovered, are almost back to Earth, unaware of how the world has changed. Now Augustine has regained a purpose and will do whatever he can to make sure these astronauts stay and safe and do not return to the inhabitable Earth. On the surface, this is a great premise. A man who has lost all hope suddenly finds meaning in his life at the risk of the lives of others. Unfortunately, it never goes that deep. This is a film that thinks it is so much smarter than it actually is. It presents itself as having big ideas, but whenever it gets put on the spot it gets stage fright and disappoints. As a result, you have a confused, and frankly, a bored audience that yearns for a space adventure but ends up with many questions.
What really gets me upset is the lack of direction in this film, and it all points to George Clooney. Clooney is one of my favorite actors, but his track record as a director has been spotty to be nice. Suburbicon and The Monuments Men fall into the same trap of being way less interesting than they hope to be. With The Midnight Sky, you’re just confused. It feels as if we are watching two films at once. One with Clooney at this base with this little girl while he is dying, the other being the astronauts making their journey home. Eventually, you know these two stories are going to clash and the film builds it up, but severely underperforms. You think you’re being set up for this grand climax and instead, events come and go with a whimper. It just leaves you wondering what the point of all this was. The worst part is that it kind of just ends without warning. It’s as if you were waiting in line for 2 hours for this brand new taco that is supposed to be amazing, and then you get it and the meat is undercooked. That is what we have with The Midnight Sky. This film has something to say but doesn’t know how to say it. It’s unfortunate because there is clearly a lot of effort put into this, but the sum is way less than the parts.
While George Clooney’s directing might be subpar, his acting is great as always. He just has that charm to him that makes him feel relatable. He feels like someone we could all be friends with and his acting feels so effortless that it makes us think we could do it also. That is one of the hallmarks of a great actor. In this film, Clooney is fantastic as this man who has lost all sense of hope for the future, but this ship coming back revitalizes him and gives him a sense of purpose again. He now has a goal and needs to achieve it. Clooney committed hard for this and reportedly filmed in -40 degree weather at some points to achieve his shots. That is dedication to your craft and Clooney is always good for that. The rest of the cast is comprised of acting powerhouses like Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, and Kyle Chandler. They’re all fine, but aren’t given much to do and once the film ended, I could barely tell you their names. They just aren’t memorable or interesting and it feels like a waste of talent. That is the way to best describe this film, a waste of potential.
Unfortunately, The Midnight Sky is one of the bigger disappointments of 2020 and comes right at the end of it as well. It is neither big enough to be a space adventure or smart enough to present its big ideas. It is right in that middle area that quickly gets forgotten. The visuals are stunning and Clooney acts the hell out of this, but the rest of the film can’t keep up and just drags its feet to the end. I just wish Clooney could regain the right material to direct again as he did with The Ides of March. He has it in him, it’s just been a while. Hopefully better days are ahead.
The Verdict