Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi “Gravity” has garnered a lot of attention lately. Not only would it be Cuarón’s first time behind the camera since 2006’s “Children of Men” but it was, at one time, reportedly the reason that Angelina Jolie left “Wanted 2.” Jolie was evidently interested in the “Gravity” lead role, but apparently has already bailed on it, which is a bit of a shame, because she’d be perfect for the role (more on that in a second).
The project has also attracted the attention of Robert Downey, Jr who still may take what we would naturally assume is the key supporting role. Then there’s the fact that nobody really knows anything which always piques our interest. We got our hands on a late 2009 version of the script and delved inside to find out what it was all about.
With only the vague logline of “Alfonso Cuarón sci-fi thriller,” out there it’s easy to think that this script (co-written by Alfonso’s son Jonás Cuarón and fellow Mexican filmmaker Rodrigo García) is set in a super futuristic age. Well, that isn’t really the case. The self described “Space Suspense in 3D” (as written on the title page) is essentially set in the here-and-now (give or take a few years perhaps a decade or two) and offers very real settings and specifics (what the space stations do, how far from earth we are, etc). And true to the title page’s description, this is definitely a streamlined thrill ride; the 99 pages raced by with an extreme emphasis put on suspense and the constant danger of floating out into the starry void of space.
If Angelina Jolie had ever been attached, she would have been on board to play the lead: Ryan Stone, a young, brainy medical engineer. It’s her first time in space and she’s been brought aboard to develop a “brain scanner” that would “work to see the universe.” Yeah, we’re not sure what that means either. But that doesn’t really matter. Downey, Jr. would likely played Matt Kowalski (bafflingly, it’s sometimes spelled Kowalsky in the script), a veteran astronaut who has logged more hours in space than anybody else. The role seems perfectly tailored to the actor and practically written with him in mind. The character is flippant, cool under pressure, and essentially talks a mile a minute while pulling off incredibly dangerous stunts in the middle of outer space.
The basic plot of “Gravity” is that these two astronauts (one pro, one newbie) are working on reparing the Hubble telescope and getting it launched from the Atlantis space shuttle. Suddenly they (and a couple of other secondary characters) are told to immediately reboard the ship and to abandon the mission. The reason: the Russians have shot down one of their spy satellites and it’s triggered a kind of satellite avalanche in orbit that is hurtling towards the space shuttle very, very soon. So not only will communications be down but they’ll be bombarded by shiny space junk throtlling at them at an unbelievable speed.
From there it’s a nonstop race to get back to earth, with Ryan and Matt being the only characters on screen as they race the satellite avalanche (the script has a nifty device with the space junk coming back around every 40 minutes, which adds a nice “ticking clock” element to the suspense).
The script reminded us most of a combination of Danny Boyle’s underseen gem “Sunshine” and Kathryn Bigelow’s recent Oscar-winner “The Hurt Locker,” but in its current state — and we’re giving it the benefit of the doubt and assuming there’s been several subsequent drafts — its far thinner texturally and emotionally. In the latter half, there’s a very unfortunate Bruce Willis/”Armageddon” style bravado of man against all odds which is a little silly, but again, has surely been improved/rewritten/reworked (we would assume). But in it’s current state there isn’t a hell of a lot of depth to it. It’s a space ride, a race against time and that’s about it (again, this almost certainly will improve, we’ll assume we have an early-ish draft). That said, that thrill ride is electric and it was effortless to finish the script in one evening (something we generally never do). In short, it’s a page-turner.
Thinking about similarities in Boyle’s aforementioned sci-fi space odyssey, we were brought back to the scene in which Captain Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada) is outside the ship. In that sequence, there’s that constant danger of flying off into space and expert application of pressure, both of which is present throughout the “Gravity” script. And in terms of “The Hurt Locker,” it shares with it both the kind of working class action hero stuff, which is terribly appealing, and a similar kind of prolonged tension.
The only problem is that, without the powerful star wattage Jolie or RDJ, there is probably little way this movie is getting made and obviously if Jolie has already passed, the film is in need of a critical female star and likely one with some action-like believability and box-office clout.
Large swaths (pages and pages) of the script are simply description of what’s going on, interspersed with these meditative moments where we watch the earth rotate, or gently focus on the moon keeping up along the horizon of the globe (these more contemplative moments wouldn’t have felt out of place on a Discovery Channel documentary on earth). It’s really, really, weird and atypical. And while Ryan goes through a Ellen Ripley-like evolution from weakling egghead to hardened dynamo, it’s also hard to care all that much about her character because she has so little to work with. Her costar is one other guy and space. We’re thinking about a Nietzsche quote here about staring into the void, but that’s a little too highbrow.
Also – this thing would be really, really expensive. The characters are weightless during the entire movie, which would surely be expensive, and all the stuff with the space stations and space shuttle and debris (not to mention those shots of earth, which would have to be wholly conjured in the computer) and you’re looking at a really expensive movie. Even if it is only 99 pages, we’re betting the budget could easily eclipse $200 million between star power and special effects (keep in mind this was written with the intent that it be filmed in 3D).
But all that said, this feels very much like “first draft” territory. If Cuarón and his co-screenwriters develop the characters (and their relationship) a little more, and take out some of the dumb-ass action movie dialogue in the film’s second half, then they could have something that the audience could really connect with and something we’d personally love to see. And, as much as big stars would help get this picture made, finding a way to the viewers’ heart could be the best chance that this “space suspense in 3D” has of making its way to the big screen. In other words, this could be the intelligent ‘Bourne’ in outer space project — as much of the action seems realistic and grounded in real physics — but it does need a little work and work we presume has already been made if Robert Downey Jr. is considering taking a clutch supporting role (there is also the genuine possibility that they could switch genders and have RDJ play the lead, but that would really radicalize the script and change it dramatically — we don’t see that happening… yet).