REEL CRITICS:’Astronaut’ says: Reach for the stars

Sometimes one needs to go to the movies simply to feel good. We don’t always need to be dazzled by special effects, intellectually challenged, scared out of our wits, or amused by some screwball comedy. “The Astronaut Farmer” is somewhat of an anachronism as it is a “nice” film with no particularly bad people in it and has an everyman protagonist we can root for in his singular battle with society.

Billy Bob Thornton stars as Charlie Farmer, a rancher in rural Texas who has never let go of his dream to fly into space. After earning an engineering degree, Charlie became a jet pilot in the Air Force and was actually training to be an astronaut when he had to leave the service for a family emergency.

Rather than give up his dream, Charlie slowly built a rocket and space capsule in his barn using military surplus parts. Although viewed as a mild eccentric by the townspeople, Charlie is encouraged by his family, especially his wife Audie (Virginia Madsen), son Shepard (Max Thieriot), and daughters Stanley and Sunshine (Jasper and Logan Polish).

Charlie is transformed from an amusing character to a possible national security threat when he searches for rocket fuel on the Internet. His remote farm is soon invaded by the FBI, the FAA, and Homeland Security. Once closely inspected, Charlie’s rocket is found to be far more sophisticated than anyone imagined and thought to be a possible weapon of mass destruction by the Feds.

All Charlie wants to do is ride his homemade contraption into space and he doesn’t fully understand the government’s objection to him doing so. Charlie is ready to launch and has literally “bet the farm” on his space expedition. Knowing his precarious financial position, the government proceeds to mount bureaucratic obstacles intended to delay a resolution. Literally everything Charlie holds dear — his ranch, his family, and his reputation — rests on him being able to fulfill his ambition.

“The Astronaut Farmer” is something Frank Capra would make if he were alive today. Charlie Farmer is the classic Capraesque hero, a decent man trying to fulfill his destiny in spite of the odds against him.

Billy Bob Thornton proves once again that he is one of our most versatile actors. From the moving simpleton in “Sling Blade” to the dark comic genius of “Bad Santa,” Thornton nearly always fully inhabits a role. Thornton portrays Farmer as a smart and honorable man even though he has chosen an unusual path to self-actualization.

The rest of the cast is excellent also. Madsen portrays Audie as perhaps long-suffering, due to accommodating her husband’s eccentricities, but also having a love that never wavers. The children are quite good, too, and the youngest ones especially don’t overact as child actors are sometimes wont to do.

This is a “little” film in the positive sense of the phrase. It fits like a comfortable old shoe and one leaves the theater feeling good about humanity. In this post-awards season when so many studios dump their questionable projects on an unsuspecting public, a film like “The Astronaut Farmer” is a welcome diversion.