Dismissed from NASA's space program, former astronaut-in-training Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) pursues his lifelong dream by building his own rocket in the family film The Astronaut Farmer. On the eve of his launch, he must battle foreclosure on his ranch, a small-town community of disbelievers, the FAA, and FBI agents who want to shut him down in the name of Homeland Security – but remains determined to reach his goal and instill in his children the courage to pursue their own dreams, no matter the odds.
The first hour of this movie was firmly entrenched in snooze city. Both WW and I, along with the three kids, were visibly bored out of our minds. Usually something like that will kill a movie and put it way beyond the point of no return in terms of being able to bring the audience back. However, the last 40 minutes of it somehow managed to literally perk up the whole theater and suck you back in to the point where you are really rooting for this thing to work out, getting choked up at certain points, and wanting to clap at the end. Very strange movie going experience here.
I would recommend this movie to everyone (especially with kids), but must heavily warn you that you have to drudge through the first hour. The ending of the movie makes it worth it but I'm not going to lie to you. It's a pretty rough first hour.
