DailyView: Day 270, Movie 378

Once again, we are going back to the very beginning of the DailyView and the first list of films that I wanted to include in this binge. Honestly, I had intended to watch The Right Stuff early in the binge, but the runtime of 3 hours and 13 minutes kept me from watching it. I carved out the time this morning to schedule the final viewing of the astronaut film.

I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed.

Don’t misunderstand me, I liked parts of the film, and I appreciated it, but I just did not find the movie that engaging.

The Right Stuff tells the true story about a group of pilots to become the first astronauts to be sent into space. Some of the classic astronauts that were included were John Glenn (Ed Harris), Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn), Gordon Cooper (Dennis Quaid), Gus Grissom (Fred Ward) and Deke Slayton (Scott Paulin). There was also a big part of the film dedicated to Chuck Yeager, played by the Oscar nominated Sam Shepard.

There were moments that I enjoyed in The Right Stuff. I enjoyed how the seven main characters were so connected with each other that they supported each other no matter what came up. The film did not feel the need to toss in some convoluted conflict just to create some kind of drama. Another thing I loved was how much John Glenn loved and supported his wife, who was embarrassed by her stuttering issues, no matter what. There was a scene involving Vice-President LBJ (Donald Moffat) that was tremendous.

However, it was very long and several of the bits of the film felt disjointed. Performances were excellent, but there was just too many moments that did not feel vital or succinct enough. Lots of the film felt repetitive or did not fit in with the overall film.

I was thinking that this was going to be a great but it turned out to be a little over average for me. I was disappointed that The Right Stuff did not hit home with me as much as it could have.