Review of Gravity

Gravity (2013)
8/10
Gravity: the title is either a misnomer or metaphor...
23 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
in my opinion, neither quite explains the title which was part of the reason I had so little interest in seeing what looked like (from the trailer) yet another flick about explosions in Space and debris-splattered disasters; so it was a genuine surprise to finally find out that that's NOT what it's primarily about - in fact, this film isn't really and truly 'about' Space at all… The storyline slowly but surely reveals it's baseline Story to be about the fight for life after losing life - not literally, but emotionally and spiritually - in the wake of the devastation of grief. So after suspending disbelief for the umpteenth time (e.g. we're asked to believe a sequence of totally improbably events all taking place 500 km above Earth - which incidentally once again visually supports a theory I've heard and agree with that in actuality, our planet is itself suffering from a misnomer as by all evidence it ought to be called Ocean instead!), we let ourselves be seduced by the beautifully apropos music in tandem with Bullock's moving performance of a person who has only been existing instead of living - and now needs to make up her mind, whether she's willing to fight for life - which ironically has been taken from people around her who it's clear all wanted to live, but didn't. Her metaphorical salvation (OK so I personally objected to the utilization of the Clooney character as a stand-in for Christ! But let it pass…) and rebirth, culminating in the humble last-word utterance of an otherwise unremarkable script ('Thank you'), which was by this point a prayer reduced in simplicity to the essence of this experience and gratitude for having made it back, moving me to tears - and coming as it did after our witnessing her tremendous struggle, was genuinely and unusually good…particularly, in a film emerging from Hollywood and masquerading as an action movie! I was impressed by such artful use of technology appealing to mass audiences while hiding an important message: Life IS worth fighting for, and we all die eventually anyway, so why not try to enjoy the ride while it lasts? :)
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