"Apollo 13"

Title: "Apollo 13"
Director: Ron Howard
Producer: Brian Grazer
Editing: Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill
Composer: James Horner
Starring:
- Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell
- Kevin Bacon as Jack Swigert
- Bill Paxton as Fred Haise
- Gary Sinise as Ken Mattingly
- Ed Harris as Gene Kranz
- Kathleen Quintan as Marilyn Lovell

Plot and Critical Review: When you hear or read the name Ron Howard, what goes through your mind? If you recognize the name and see the face in your mind you probably remember Richie Cunningham from "Happy Days". Maybe you're reminded of the 39 awards Howard's films have been nominated for, or the 9 they've won. Maybe you'll think of "The DaVinci Code" and its sequel, "Angels and Demons" releasing later this year. No doubt there are many films that might flash through the mind. Aside from Richie Cunningham, most people will probably think of one film in particular, a film that we may justly declare to be Howard's greatest cinematic effort to date, "Apollo 13." I'll spare you the historical backdrop as most of us are well aware of the accomplishments of the American space program and how important it was to our great nation during this particular period of time. President Kennedy's admonition to achieve greatness in the "space race" still echo in our years long after his death. "Apollo 13" is a testament to the courage of those who risked their lives to achieve a great feat on behalf of America and all mankind.

My review is based on the 2005 re-release of the movie supervised by Ron Howard. Along with an extra disc full of never-before-seen special features this edition of the movie contains no less than 24 minutes of extra footage not included in the theatrical release. Not until I saw the special edition did I realize how meaningful these extra scenes were in filling out the plot and developing the relationship between the characters, namely the Apollo team of Lovell, Swigert, and Haise.

You all know the line: "Houston, we have a problem." Never have such simple words struck such unbelievable fear into a nation. As soon as the service module Odyssey suffers a technical blow when the cryogenic oxygen tanks are stirred the goal of reaching the Moon is almost immediately aborted. Now NASA is concerned with only one thing; getting the boys on Apollo 13 back home. How are we supposed to react? The looks on the faces of those in the mission control room look very much like we feel: shocked, confused, sad, angry, determined, desperate. A curious sensation of disappointment is mingled with a deep concern for the team's safety and a resulting willingness to do anything to get the team home.

From this point forward the movie exists in two places, more or less; the lunar module in which the astronauts attempt to return home and the mission control room in Houston. More importantly the film's plot is split in half; the attempts of the Apollo crew to return to Earth and the emotions experienced by all of those connected to the flight crew. Of particular value (and a sort of bridge between the two plots) is the return of Ken Mattingly (Sinise) who was slated to go up with the 13 crew but was unable due to a case of the measles (which he never actually had). NASA calls him back to the command center to work alongside the crew in space to find a way to get the boys home in the face of great technical difficulties.

Rather quickly we are confronted with a barrage of space-talk. "Burns", "free-return trajectory", "carbon dioxide parts per million", "descent trajectory" become common vocabulary. After another series of technical challenges that are narrowly conquered the Apollo crew is on a course back to Earth and they remain on that course without anything that can be done to aid or assist them. Here again we are faced with the disappointment and remorse of the Apollo crew who must remind themselves that the objective for which they trained, to set foot on the Moon, cannot be reached. This is a trial of particular difficulty as 13 comes around the Moon (the free-return trajectory) and Lovell is able to look upon the Moon where he had so deeply longed to walk.

"Apollo 13" was designed with technical and historical accuracy in mind. Although there are a few inaccuracies we are, on the whole, privileged to see the events of the Apollo 13 mission unfold as they actually did in the spacecraft and mission control room. Much of the dialogue was developed from tapes that recorded actual dialogue between the 13 crew and Mission Control. Ron Howard is known for his commitment to this sort of accuracy in his films and he spares no expense in developing this spectacle of a motion picture.

Nominated for 9 Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and receiving just 2 (the 96 Oscars were dominated by a little movie called "Braveheart") Howard's epic is a true testament to the innovation of a creative director, the capabilities of cinematic technology, and a timeless witness to the courage of the men who dared to brave the undiscovered country.

My Rating: 8/10

The "Reel Revelation": "Lord, Lead Us Home"

Have you ever been far from home and "felt it"? I mean the moment in which you realize that you actually are far away from home and desire nothing else but to step through your front door. If you've felt that way then you probably have a good sense of what it was like to be in the Aquarius lunar module during the Apollo 13 mission. Even though you may not have been surrounded by the vacuum of space you felt what those men did; the tremendous urge to return back to the place you belong. To return home. And then the truth falls like a shadow; you're not Dorothy and clicking your heels will only put holes in your pretty red shoes. What can you do?

During the Apollo tragedy an interview of Jim Lovell was aired on television, an interview that primarily concerned itself with Jim's service in the Air Force as a pilot. Here's a portion of that interview, the portion we (the audience) watched with all of those glued to their televisions, waiting to learn the fate of the Apollo team.

Television Reporter: Is there a specific instance in an airplane emergency when you can recall fear?
Jim Lovell: Uh well, I'll tell ya, I remember this one time - I'm in a Banshee at night in combat conditions, so there's no running lights on the carrier. It was the Shrangri-La, and we were in the Sea of Japan and my radar had jammed, and my homing signal was gone... because somebody in Japan was actually using the same frequency. And so it was - it was leading me away from where I was supposed to be. And I'm lookin' down at a big, black ocean, so I flip on my map light, and then suddenly: zap. Everything shorts out right there in my cockpit. All my instruments are gone. My lights are gone. And I can't even tell now what my altitude is. I know I'm running out of fuel, so I'm thinking about ditching in the ocean. And I, I look down there, and then in the darkness there's this uh, there's this green trail. It's like a long carpet that's just laid out right beneath me. And it was the algae, right? It was that phosphorescent stuff that gets churned up in the wake of a big ship. And it was - it was - it was leading me home. You know? If my cockpit lights hadn't shorted out, there's no way I'd ever been able to see that. So uh, you, uh, never know... what... what events are to transpire to get you home.

Jim's words are almost too romantic to be true. "And I, I look down there, and then in the darkness there's this uh, there's this green trail. It's like a long carpet that's just laid out right beneath me. ... And it was - it was - it was leading me home." Leading me home. Just like that, this miracle trail of algae in the Sea of Japan served as a trail that took Lovell right where he needed to go, to the safety of the air craft carrier. Home.

Where is "home" for you? Where is the place that makes you feel safe, secure, and happy? What is the setting in which you experience peace? The answers are no doubt endless. Some fine answers might be "my house", "my church", "the forest", "the mountain", "a bowling alley", "wherever I am when I am with the one I love", etc. But most of us live lives that keep us away from "home" most of the day, maybe even for days at a time. How do we retain that sense of comfort and peace when we can't be where we feel we most belong?

Jesus is our peace, and his heart is our home. At least it should be. The truth is that many have wandered so far away from the comfort of God's embrace that they've actually convinced themselves that other places (or things, people, emotions, etc.) will do. But there is no other place that we can go where we will find such a peace as that which we may experience when we meet with God. Lent is a 40-day reminder that Jesus gave up his life so that no matter where we are, no matter how far we've wandered, and no matter how convinced we've become of the comfort of worldly things we can run to God, fall into his arms, and know the complete comfort of his grace.

See you tomorrow - E.T.