Astronaut Farmer

I won't write anymore about how I can't remember why a movie got put on the netflix queue. I never remember, and it doesn't matter.

This movie was fun, and it was family-friendly enough, though we had to look past some light cursing. Decent acting by Billy Bob Thornton and Virginia Madsen. Perhaps I had fun watching it because it was filmed in New Mexico. The scene where Charlie Farmer is soliciting advertising from a cowboy-businessman... that takes place in front of a local feed store!

So, Charlie Farmer is, well, a farmer in Texas and is a good father and husband. He has a dream to build a rocket that will fly into space and orbit the earth. He's not totally loony, as he has a degree in aerospace engineering or something and was in the US Air Force training to be an actual astronaut. But family tragedy brought him back home to the farm, where he continued his simplistic dream of going to space...

In spite of the FAA and other government agency's objections to him flying his rocket, and in spite of the financial ruin he's certain to bring his family, he proceeds, aided only by his teenage son as mission control and the moral support of his wife and young daughters.

I felt inspired while watching the movie, and I even felt like crying a little (shut-up) when the rocket actually launched, but now I can't remember what was so inspiring about it... perhaps it was the moral that dogged determination will get you your dreams, and it takes the support of those around you and sacrifice. Thinking back, the premise is all a little silly, even if it was just a movie, but it was a feel-good type of movie. Sorta like Little Miss Sunshine.

So, yeah, grab the popcorn and the kids, and have a nice time.