REVIEW. If you believe in the power of feel-good movies, PROJECT HAIL MARY might be the answer to your prayers.

Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary.

Close your eyes and Imagine, if you can, a cinematic hybrid that's part 2001: A Space Odyssey (without the alien monolith), part Top Gun (karaoke and bar singing included), and part ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Twizzlers instead of Reese's and an alien called Rocky). Then write a screenplay, based on Andy Weir's sci-fi novel, that jams in every available pop culture reference, Rocky Balboa related and otherwise. Top it off with some dazzling special effects of the outer space kind and you've got this year's first big box office winning, audience pleasing (95% approval on Rotten Tomatometer, 97% on the Popcornmeter) feel-good movie.

No special intentions needed. No indulgences need be bought. Project Hail Mary, co-directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a screenplay by Drew Goddard, stars Ryan Gosling as middle school science teacher-turned-astronaut Ryland Grace and Sandra Hüller as PHM's project leader Eva Stratt who together must save planet Earth (and a smaller planet called Erid), from extinction, arrived amidst a flurry of early Oscar 2027 buzz. No small themes or delicate subjects. No character name subtlties here, either (Eva and Grace?) Project Hail Mary and its actors contain as much life-affirming goodwill as the prayer and low-probability football pass it's named after.

Relying heavily on Gosling's movie star charisma and charm, Project Hail Mary tells the story of how one microbiologist, Dr. Ryland Grace, ended up alone on a spaceship, tasked with saving the Earth from a catastrophic global cooling caused by a microorgaism called Astrophage. We first meet Ryland as he emerges from a lengthy drug-induced coma, light years from home and suffering from retrograde amnesia. His story unfolds in flashbacks, so he (and we) piece together the story that has brought him to this moment.

Ryland struggles with the challenges of isolation and solitude, simultaneously remembering the critical work assigned to him. When he encounters an alien whom he casually (later affectionately) calls "Rocky," the two form an intellectual/scientific, then personal bond, that allows them to develop a plan to save both their home planets. As their friendship grows and deepens, we must depend on Ryland's monologue to interpret the dialogue between the two and, more importantly, to remain engaged in the story.

Though some of the early parts of this galactic adventure drag a bit, Gosling does an admirable job of keeping the story moving and holding our interest for the film's 156-minute running time. Gosling's appeal alone isn't enough here, so it is to his credit being a fine actor that movie gets better as it goes along. Part of what works here is Gosling's sense of humor (at himself and what's going on). His personal likeability must be believable in order for the narrative to be effective. In the hands of a more serious, less self-aware actor, Ryland's situation could be a real sludge. This is one role L'il Timmy T (Chalamet) couldn't do justice to. If you want/need further proof, check out some of Gosling's other fine performances, including his Oscar-nominated turns in Half-Nelson, La La Land and Barbie, plus the much-overlooked The Nice Guys and The Place Beyond the Pines.

The matinee I attended was fairly crowded, and the audience was clearly on point with every reference, every joke, every aside that Gosling uttered. The two teenage boys sitting a few seats over from me were having a great time watching the movie (re: they were not disruptive). They got all the movie and music jokes, puns and asides. Unfortunately, non-pop culture aficionados like my husband, might not consistently appreciate the context or insider jokes that form the basis of Ryland and Rocky's conversations.

Directors Lord and Miller, who met as students at Dartmouth College when both had separate comics appearing in the school newspaper, formed a lasting relationship that took them to Hollywood post-graduation and a series of successful popcorn movies, including Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie. You can rightfully conclude that their filmography suggests the kind of slick commercialism that might lessen a movie's artistic value, and there are times when the two really teeter on crossing that fine line, to paraphrase Christopher Guest in This Is Spinal Tap, between "clever and stupid."

When Rocky confirms he has a "mate," Ryland decides her name should be "Adrian." Yo, Rocky! When Ryland embarks on an interstellar mission, his face is captured à la Keir Dullea in 2001: A Space Odyssey. When he reaches out to Rocky in a gesture of friendship, those who are old enough to remember will immediately think of ET's first finger connection with Elliott. In short, no pop culture allusion is left untouched, no emotion left unpunctuated without a blaring musical interlude. Every apt musical track - from Kris Kristofferson ("Sunday Mornin' Coming Down") to Harry Styles ("Sign Of the Times") to the Beatles and Ornella Vanoni - is included. I was half-expecting David Bowie's "Space Oddity" as the credits roled, but Lord and Miller did show some restraint.

A word about "Rocky," the ET-esque extra-terrestrial that becomes Ryland's other half. Voiced by James Ortiz, who also served as lead puppeteer, along with a team of five others dubbed "Rockyteers," Rocky is reminiscent of other lovable aliens, from ALF to Chewbocca. He almost looks like E.T., if Elliott's inter-galactic friend walked on all fours and had more visible joints. Creating a puppet, rather than using CGI, is testament to Lord and Miller's desire to humanize Rocky, and also a nod to other filmmakers, notably, Guillermo del Toro, whose use of puppets may not always be cost-effective, but whose disdain for AI and other "fake" cinematic illusions supports a more human approach to filmmaking.

Overall, Project Hail Mary, like Weir's previous novel-turned-movie, The Martian (2015), is mostly a one-character show, which leaves Sandra Hüller somewhat wasted as Ryland's superior and the project's commander. Except for one impromptu karaoke stint, Hüller's Eva Stratt is mostly one-dimensional, though the Oscar-nominated actress does as much as she can to breathe life and leadership ambiguity into her performance. Her scenes with Gosling suggest the two made an earnest effort to rise above the sometimes banal dialogue and trite character interaction in Goddard's competent, but mostly conventional script.

The first trailer for Project Hail Mary arrived in theaters last June. That's right. June 2025, nine months before its March 2026 theatrical release. Almost like childbirth... or, like many big action adventure films, very aggressive Hollywood marketing. Still, I was struck by the timing, immediately after the Academy Awards and during a post-Oscar season that typically doesn't push big budget movies or awards season fodder so soon for the upcoming year.

Of course, last year's very early spring release, Sinners, proved that people can and do remember really good movies nine months after their release, so maybe we're starting to see a shift in when during the year really good movies should come out (re: not just in the fall or during the holiday season). I hope so. It would be nice to have more good movies released throughout the year, rather than wait for the onslaught of Oscar favorites right before the nominees are selected.

I must say that, as much as I got sucked in to the Project Hail Mary hype (I bought tickets to see it almost three weeks ago), I almost didn't write a review. About half-way through the show, I was ready to leave. The plot seemed to drag, and I wasn't sure if I cared whether Ryland and Rocky succeeded on their mission. I won't tell you what happens, but I will say that there was a moment about 95 minutes in that made me sit back and stay.

And I'm glad I did. Despite some convoluted scientific explanations, Project Hail Mary is a glossy, smoothly crafted, very well-made movie that raises more questions than it answers: How is it that Ryland doesn't age? How does he, a microbiologist, almost immediately understand how to pilot a spacecraft? If he was in a coma for "light years," how could he possibly complete this "suicide" mission? What causes the numerous crises that challenge his success? If you possess a reasonably logical narrative mind, you might find this movie more frustrating than warm and fuzzy. Saving the planet (s) is serious stuff, after all, and PHM contains more saccharine than science.

On the surface, it's a kind and gentle story of friendship, one that (for me) spoke to the "misfits" Guillermo del Toro so lovingly embraces in his films. Though clearly designed as a "feel-good" movie, Project Hail Mary never completely succumbs to the syrupy, sappy moments that often define that genre. Ryland and Rocky are unlikely friends, aliens in their own individual ways, and they share some truly sweet, even touching, moments. Lord and Miller seem to know when to pull back before things get too mawkish or sentimental. They always return to the movie's core: Ryland and Rocky's must save their respective planets... and go home.

I left the theater thinking about that last thing, going home: what/where it is, why it is important, and how each of us must find a place of enduring joy. Here's hoping we all find that remarkable spot during our lives. I just wish Ryan Gosling had been my middle school science teacher.

Pause for reaction.

Sigh.

Amen.

*******

Project Hail Mary is rated PG-13 for sci-fi adventure violence and intensity. It is currently playing in theaters and is best seen on the big screen, in IMAX where available.

MJ's Final Note: If you were awaiting the theatrical release of your new film and a meme that parodied an earlier movie you made popped up prior to its release, what would you think? You could argue that Ryan Gosling can play the romantic lead opposite just about anyone, human or otherwise. Or you might interpret this image to be another shameless marketing ploy, a meme/parody targeting yet another movie-going demographic. You decide.

PS For those who may be confused, the image above is a nod to La La Land.