2000, 2 hrs 10 min., Rated PG-13.�Dir: Clint Eastwood. Cast: Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner, Donald Sutherland, James Cromwell, Marcia Gay Harden, William Devane.

I saw this a month ago and only now am getting around to finishing the review. My apologies, I was caught up with my write-ups on the vacation to Britain and the working trip to Philadelphia and just left this review and another to X-Men wallowing on my computer. So, a month late, here it is.

Actually, the best thing about going to the movie was using this cool little pen that emits a dull green light from tip so I could write notes and actually see the pad, as opposed to the scribble I usually have to decipher later. Thanks go out to Joelle, one of the runners from our crew on the GOP Convention trip for work in August. But that has nothing to do with Space Cowboys, so I'll move on.

I'd been looking forward to this one since the project was announced. Being a fan of films made prior to 1970 (as so few in my generation seem to be), the collection of stars is phenomenal: Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Donald Sutherland and Tommy Lee Jones, four of the most talented guys Hollywood has showcased. In a supporting role, James Cromwell provides another great example of why more movies should be made that allow actors over 50 to shine. I said this after seeing the underrated and underviewed Twilight in 1998, and believe even more so now. My only gripe is that the filmmakers didn't give us four great women of similar stature and gloried past in the business. Eastwood is matched with Barbara Babcock, but he is the only one with a better half of equal age.

An interesting aspect of the film is the first ten minutes. The film takes us back to the flyboy, pre-space travel era of our heroes. Filmed in black and white, what caught my eye - actually, my ear in this case - was that the voice of the older actors is dubbed over the younger ones. Thus, you could tell who was portraying whom among the youthful actors. It was a bit odd at first and took me out of the picture, but I accepted it after a few minutes and thought it was a novel approach to the situation. The actor portraying Eastwood actually does a pretty fair impression of the director.

The foreshadowing gets a bit silly. There was foreshadowing of foreshadowing as if the filmmakers were asking the audience, "Did you catch that ten minutes ago? If not, someone will be along to express the exact same worry in five minutes, then reiterate it ten minutes later. Then the problem will be along in another half hour." Okay, we get it, the Soviets have our technology and we're sure they'll do bad things with it. Plot isn't really relevant, not as much as the camaraderie of Team Daedalus, our heroes.

I very much enjoyed the first 2/3 of the film, which introduces the characters, not to mention the fabulously fun training scenes. However, when the movie became more Space than Cowboys, essentially it turned into a senior citizen Space Camp and I spaced out. The climax was implausible and hastily done, just too Hollywood-ized, and I'm very confused about the physics that would allow what happens.

But I won't let it take away from the overall enjoyment of the film. It has the right stuff.