Spawn and I saw Space Cowboys over the weekend. No surprises here, all the joy to be found is in the execution and the performances of four major stars who know a thing or two about action heroism.
Actually two different movies--a comedy on the old geezers at Space Academy, and an action film once it reaches space. Both sections are solid, if neither reaches great heights. There are several very funny one-liners in the first half (Sutherland's on the Leno show is particularly good) and the scene where Garner "spots" Jones is a hoot, particularly Garner's final line. I thought the CGI effects in the second half were beautiful--I can't speak as to their realism.
Many points scored for a good portrayal of a career woman (Marcia Gay Harden)--a scientist, no less--who had a sex drive, a sex life, a great sense of humor, and an ability to do her job without sacrificing her professionalism to emotional involvement. She also had a disastrous haircut, but I'll still count it in the win column. William Devane has a good part, but Courtney Vance is wasted, which is sad.
It is worth noting that when the early events in this movie were taking place, James Garner was starring in Maverick, and Clint Eastwood was just about to start in Rawhide. Toss in Newman (whose resume might hold greater highs than these two, but also far more lows) and that's the short list of actors who were stars in the fifties and still viable A-list leads today. Neither Garner or Eastwood just go through the motions here (nor does Sutherland, for that matter, who came around a decade later), and it is a real treat to see them onscreen providing proof of just how they achieved that popularity. For that reason alone, I'd see it in the theaters rather than wait til video.
