The difference between the two recent “alien” films “Disclosure Day” and “Project Hail Mary” is that Steven Spielberg is doing interviews where he is pulling a War of the Worlds – pretending that his scripted movie is a take on reality to initiate conversations about actual aliens, which I think, is so bizarre.  “Project Hail Mary” doesn’t do that.  It is pure fiction, albeit with some scientific mumbo-jumbo that sort of sounds like it could almost be legit the way in Star Trek, you just accept the premise of warp speed space travel and whatnot.

Sci-Fi is cool in that what was once imagined is now real (i.e. FaceTime, I-pads and other stuff we saw in TNG in the ’90s), so maybe some sort of new energy will fuel rockets some day – I guess it could happen….

The film stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace and my guess is author Andy Weir had him in mind all along for the role.  While reading the novel Project Hail Mary, I imagined Ryan Gosling as Grace the whole time, although, the bits about Grace’s personal life and how he was more of a loner didn’t make much sense in that respect.  Maybe the character, who is never really described, should be imagined as a less attractive weird-o?

The movie does tend to follow the book’s narrative.  There are some lengthy parts where the science is explained and, basically the whole process of solving the actual problem takes months and months, which can’t really be examined in a two-hour movie.

The story unfolds in flash back style.  Ryland Grace awakens from what appears to be a coma.  He doesn’t know who he is or what he’s doing there, but he is on a spaceship.  Is he even an astronaut?  He finds two dead bodies alongside his bed and slowly he regains memories that begin with the fact that he is in fact, a middle school science teacher.

For some reason, he does know how to operate the ship.  And as his memories unfold, he remembers that he is on this space trip to find a solution to a devastating crisis on Earth.  An alien organism that Grace has coined astrophage, is eating away at the sun.  The world must come together to propose a solution. Governments convene and a task force begins plans to build and launch a one-way space mission to a solar system fourteen years away where a star appears resistant to the creatures.

Grace is recruited to help and becomes the leading expert on the little buggers.  As a former middle school teacher myself, who is both artist and art teacher, this part, although initially far-fetched, is incredibly satisfying.  Because Grace is a doctoral level scientist AND he is a great teacher.

Back to the “present” timeline, Ryland Grace encounters a friendly alien and together they work to solve this dilemma – Grace as scientist and “Rocky” as engineer.

There are so many profound take-aways from this wonderful book.  Mine is that even a middle school teacher can rise to the occasion and become the person who saves the universe.  On a smaller scale, we all have special gifts that can make a difference, and sometimes we have a greater purpose than the one we think we have.

Did I make a difference to my students?  Am I making a difference now?  Does it matter?  Art is a very solitary experience.  Yesterday I realized that I am happiest when I am alone and in creation mode.  I loved that Ryland Grace continues to work alone, mainly, to figure out how to save Earth even when he knows he’ll never return and will not actually know if he succeeds.  He still tries – not for money, not for accolades but for the hope that his life will have meaning.

You’ll laugh.  You’ll cry.  I promise you, it will be worth it.  Read the book even if you’ve already seen the movie.  It’s soooo good.

I got my copy of Project Hail Mary from the public library and, no surprise, I borrowed the one with the large print, which makes reading at night a no-brainer.  I read the last chapters at 3:00 AM this morning.  There’s something to reading a book that takes place in the vastness of space – in the middle of the night.  You really feel like you are right there with Ryland (in my case Ryan) and that is pretty amazing).

P.S. The movie is available on Amazon Prime.